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THE AUTHOR. 



OUR SISTER REPUBLIC: 

A GALA TRIP 

THROUGH 

TKOPICAL MEXICO 

11^ 1869-70. 

ADVENTURE AI^D SIGHT-SEEINa IN THE LAND OF THE AZTECS, 

WITH PICTURESQUE DESCRIPTIONS OF THE 

COUNTRY AND TUB PEOPLE, 

AND 

KEMmiSCEI^CES OF THE EMPIRE AND ITS DOAVNFALL. 

BY 

OOL. ALBEET S. EYAl^S. 



WITTJFT. JVXJaiEIlOXJS ENOJtA-VIlVGS. 



PUBLISHES B7 SUBSCSIFIIOIT 0NL7. 



/ 

HAETFORD, CONK: 
COLITMBIAISr BOOK COISIPANY. 

W. E. BLISS, TOLEyjO, OUIO. 

A. L. BANCROFT & COMPANY, Sak Fkancisco, C.vl. 

1870. 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1870, by 

ALBERT S. EVANS, 
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



Entered also at Stationer's Hall, London, England. 



.^^2- 



'y'^ 



^> 



TO MEK 

Who through all my wanderings has eyer^ been 
pr^esent in my mind, and whose loye has 

BEEN THE GuiDING StAR^ OF MY LIFE, 



THIS Volume is Dedicated, in testimony of 
Unchanging Affection. 



INTRODUCTORY LETTER 
FROM HONORABLE WILLIAM II. SEWARD. 



AuBUKN, August 6th, 1870. 
My Dear Colonel Evans : — 

Your book on Mexico contains tlie observations wliich 
you made while a member of the party with which I traveled 
through that magnificent and interesting Country. Received 
and entertained there as a guest of the Republic, I have prac- 
ticed in regard to Mexico, since my return to the United States, 
the same delicacy which I expect a friend whom I have been 
entertaining to practice when he has left my house. For this 
reason I cannot sanction either your observations or your 
deductions. 

I am at liberty, however, to say that your details of our 
travels are full and accurate ; your account of the resources and 
capacities of the country is not exaggerated ; your pictures of 
Mexican society will be thought by the public too highly colored : 
I think that your error lies on the other side. The Statesmen 
of the country deserve all the praise you have bestowed upon 
them. Your style is attractive, the book is spirited, and I think 
it calculated to be usefal. 
Sincerely, 

your friend and well-wisher, 

WILLIAM H. SEWARD. 
Colonel Albert S. Evans, 

San Francisco, Cal. 



PREFATORY. 



This work embodies the observations of the Author on 
Mexico and her people, made while traveling as one of the 
party of the Hon. Wm. H. Seward, in 1869-YO. 

Through the kind partiality of Mr. Seward and the liber- 
ality of the Government and Citizens of Mexico, the Anthor 
undoubtedly enjoyed greater facilities for seeing the country 
and its inhabitants, than have been accorded to any other traveler 
for many years. 

I have endeavored to give an impartial description of what 
I saw and heard in that land of wonder and romance, avoiding 
neither the lights nor the shadows of the picture. 

I had been familiar with the people of Mexico, a portion of 
their country, and much of their history, for many years ; had 
sympathized with them in their noble struggle against invasion, 
and the infamous attempt of European rulers to isubvert free 
government and plant despotic institutions on the soil of 
America ; against the bigoted, superstitious and intolerant party 
of conservatism, which steadfastly opposed the education of the 
masses and all progress; against slavery, and the remnants of 
monarchical institutions handed down to them as a part of the 
curse of Old Spain, and was prepared to make many allow- 
ances for errors and short-comings, in view of the obstacles in 
the way of the country's progress, and the trials through which 
the nation had been called upon to pass. 

The journey was in many respects the most remarkable one 
on record. No private citizen — whatever might have been his 
former station in life — ever received such an ovation as was 
given to Mr. Seward, by the people and Government of Mex- 
ico. From the Pacific to the Atlantic, — over a journey of 
some twelve hundred miles, — it was one grand triumphal march, 
and all classes and parties joined in the demonstration. 



O PREFATORY. 

Seeing much to praise, something to blame, and much to 
excuse as the inevitable result of the acts of those who admin- 
inistered the Government and shaped the destinies of Mexico 
before the present generation came upon the field of action, I 
can safely say that the balance was decidedly on the right side 
and that I came away with more respect for the people, more 
sympathy for a nationality struggling — sometimes blindly, but 
always earnestly and persistently — along the path of progress, 
and more hope for the future of that much misunderstood and 
much misrepresented Republic, than I had when I entered it. 

The journey was one of the most pleasing episodes of my 
life, and the memory of the friendships established, and the 
imceasing kindness and consideration received at the hands of 
Mr. Seward and the other members of his party, and the peo- 
ple of the country through which we traveled, will be a source 
of heartfelt enjoyment through all coming years. 

I have not aimed at writing a comprehensive, statistical, and 
historical work on Mexico, but have left that task to other and 
abler pens, giving only what came under our personal observa- 
tion, and endeavoring to show the reader, the country and the 
people as we saw them. 

In a land where nature has lavished all her wealth with 
tropical prodigality, where the scenery is grand and beautiful 
beyond description, and every step is over historic ground, and 
amid scenes around which the romance of centuries has accu- 
mulated, I could not fail to see much to interest the reader and 
make the story of such a journey worthy of perusal, whatever 
my abilities as a writer might be. 

The relations between Mexico and the United States must 
become more intimate as years elapse. The interests of the 
two Republics are growing, every day, more nearly identical. 
Kature and republican institutions have made us allies, and an 
injury inflicted upon one must be felt by the other, as well, in 
the end. If what I have written shall assist my countrymen in 
forming a more just and favorable idea of Mexico than they 
have hitherto entertained, I shall have every reason to be more 
than satisfied with the result of my labors. 



^'^.cf^-^ 




^T^''^ O ^€ZC 




ilSTllLLUSTMTlONSf 

FAT a? ©©X """^ 



105 KASS;iUST N.Y. —' 




Portrait of the Authok, — Frontispiece, 

Hon. William H. Seward Travei.xng in Mexico, 

The Golden Gate, ..---- 

Beach and Houses at Manzanillo, . - - - 

Portrait of Senor Luis Rend on, . - - - 

Senor Huarte's House at Colima, . . . - 

A Tortilla Maker, ------ 

Portrait of Col. Sabas Loaieli of the Jalisco Guard, 

The Barranca De Beltran, - - . - - 

Indians from Michoacan going up to Guadalajara, - 

Bride and Groom entering the Church, - - - 

Hacienda in the Mountains of Jalisco, 

Effects of Taking a Drink, . . - - - 

The Grand Cathedral of Guadalajara, 

Blind Girl in the Hospicio, . - • - - 

The Great Cemetery of Bethlem, . - - - 

A Mexican Cart, -..--- 

Indl\n Embroiderers and their Work, 

Indian Statuary Makers of Tonilla, 

A Sunday Bull-Fight at Guadalajara, - - - - 

Gutierrez, the Terror of Jalisco, . - - ■ 

The Grateful Guava Merchant, . . . - 

VenTA de LOS Pagarros, - - - - 

Church of San Juan de los Lagos, . - - - 

The Reservoirs and Promenade at Guanajuato, 
Portrait of Florencio Antillon, Governor of Guanajuato, 
The Ancient Castle op Grenaditas, 



Page. 

■ 19 
20 

- 27 
35 

- 48 
79 

- 80 
84 

- 87 
90 

- 97 
113 

- 118 
135 

- 183 
134 

- 137 
139 

- 145 
160 

- 161 
164 

■ 166 
183 

- 187 
190 



10 ILLUSTKATI0N8. 

Page. 
The Tarantula op the Mines, ....-- 210 

The Execution of Maximilian, . - . - . - 236 

What is left op the Empire, ---... 238 
The Mexican Girl and her Blind Father, - - • 243 

Maneuvering for a Pig-Skin, ------ 245 

Family Resemblance — A Reminiscence of White Pine, - - 247 

Interior of Mr. Seward's House in Mexico, . - - . 251 

Portrait of Senorita Dona Rosa Mancillas, - - - 252 

Portrait of Senorita Dolores Mora, ----- 253 

Portrait of Senorita Luz Acosta, - . - . . 252 

Portrait of Senorita Soledo Juarez, ----- 252 

Portrait op Senorita Maclovia Hill, . - - . 252 

Termination o p the San Cosme Aqueduct, . . - . 259 

The Policemen of Mexico — A Street Scene, - - - 262 

Portrait of Matias Romero, Minister op Hacienda, - - 269 

Chapultepec, - - - - - - - - 271 

Portrait op Don Sebastian LerdoDe Tejada, Minister of For- 
eign Relations, ------- 274 

Portrait op Ignacio M. Altamerano, the Indian Orator, - - 287 

The Pueblo at Taos, ------- 305 

Portrait of Don Benito Juarez, President of Mexico, - - 306 
Portrait of Maximilian, --..-. 310 

Portrait op Carlotta, . - . - - - 311 

Broken Plate prom Chapultepec, - . - - - 312 

The Great Cathedral of Mexico, - - - . 341 

Flagellantes entering the Chapel twenty years ago, - 345 

A Mexican Beggar — " Tengo Nada Senor," - . . . 370 

The Earthenware Seller, - - - - - - 371 

The Mexican Water Carrier, ---.-. 372 
The Orange Seller, --.-.-- 373 
The Poultry Seller, -.-.--. 374 

The Vegetable Seller, ------ 375 

Cholula, and the Aztec Pyramid, - - . . . 428 

Our Aztec Musicians at Cholula, ----- 434 

The Needle Palm or Spanish Bayonet, - - - - 443 

Sunday Amusement at Vera Cruz — Bull and Bear Fight, - 490 

The Ranchero and his Pig, ------ 504 

The Horse and the Zapilotes, - . - . . 506 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

Faqe. 

Good-Bye to San Francisco — Chinese Sailors — Voyage down the Coast — 
Verdureless Moxmtains — Sunday Service at Sea — Wreck of the Golden 
City— Signal Eockets— The Montana— Meeting of Steamers at Night — 
Cape St. Lucas— Within the Tropics— A Desolate Region— Castor-Oil 
Whales— A Tropical Sunset at Sea— El Mar de Cortez- Arrival at 
Manzanillo — The Guest of Mexico— Washed up by the Sea— Sights and 
Scenes on Shore— Battle of Sharks and Alligators— Visitors from Coli- 
ma — Gov, Cueva — Productions of Manzanillo — Tropical Fruits — Em- 
barkation and Passage of the Flotilla up the Laguna de Cayutlan — 
A Charmed Circle— The Wealth of the Tropics— Wild-Flowers, Parrots 
and Alligators — Our Indian Rowers — Scene on the Beach — Dejected 
Mules — Crossing the Rio de Santa Maria — Indian Population — Battle- 
Ground of San Bartolo — The great Hacienda of Ija Calera — Life in the 
Tropics — Senor Huarte — Rural Mass and Sunday Scenes — Pigeon-Eng- 
lish — Departiire from La Calera — Our Coach and Six — The Custom- 
House Guard — Water Bearers of Mexico — Colima the Beautiful, - - 49 

CHAPTER II. 

Colima — Night Entrance to the Ancient City — The Music of Cortez — 
Is it a Revolution ? — In Grenada or Damascus — View from the Balcony — 
The Valley of Colima — Picturesque Scenes on the Streets — The Plaza 
and Markets — The Gardens of the Tropics — Their Flowers and Fruits — 
The People and Resources of Colima — Productions of the Coimtry — The 
Cocoa-nut — Agua de Cocoa — Coffee and Chocolate — Linoloe — Honors to 
Mr. Seward — Invitation to the Palace — A Brilliant and Beautiful Scene — 
The Ball and Banquet — Eloquent Address of Gov. Cueva — Mr. Seward's 
first Speech in Mexico — A Grand Fandango — The Cotton Factories and 
the Operatives — Ravages of War — Visit to the Public Schools — The 
State-Prison and Prisoners— Curious Christening Ceremonies — The Guard 
of Jalisco and their Commander, 69 

CHAPTER III. 

Farewell to Colima — Painful Scene at the U. S. Consulate — Departure of 
the Grand Cavalcade — The Country and the People — The Barranca 



12 



CONTENTS. 



Country — Mr. Seward's Palanquin — Magnificent Scenery — Dinner ■with 
Gov. Vega at Tornila— The great Volcano of Colima— The Foot-Hills of 
the Sierra Madre— Tortilla Makers— Our Escort — The Guard of Jalisco 
on the March— Hacienda de San Marcos — Wild Night Scene — The Cav- 
alcade by Torch Light— Great Barranca de Beltran— Fate of Gen. Ar- 
teaga — Historic Ground — Passage of the last of the Barrancas — Aten- 
quiqui — An Indian Kunner — Commerce of the Eoad — Crossing the Sier- 
ra Madre — Zapotlan— Soap-Factories— " Going the whole Hog" — A 
Mexican Wedding Party — Floral Decorations — Anecdote of Rojas — A 
Monopoly of Crime — How Local Revolutions are Managed — Victims of 
the Pronimciamentos, - 94 



CHAPTER IV. 

Under a Cloud — Saints, Festivities and Bull-Fights — Wayside Crosses — ^A 
Land of Brigands, Plagiaros and Blood — Wholesale Shooting of Out- 
laws — A Magnificent Valley — Our Welcome at Seyula — Visit to the Pub- 
lic Schools — Interesting School Exhibition — Sunday Evening Ball — Mex- 
ican Beauties — The Birds of the Tropics — Indian Villages — Reception at 
Zacoalco — Battle Field of La Coronea — Defeat of the Imperialists — Gen- 
eral Martinez — A terrible Pun — A Mexican Fonda and Mexican Cook- 
ing — Great Sugar Hacienda del Plan — Strange Sights on the Road — 
Kneeling Men and Women — The Century Plant — Tequila and its Ef- 
fects — A Swell-Head — First View of Guadalajara — Reception and En- 
trance into the City — Guadalajara by Moonlight — The Old, Old Song, - 116 



CHAPTERV. 

Churches of Guadalajara — A Retreat from the World — The Music of 
Bells — The Great Cathedral — A Magnificent Altar — Paintings and Stat- 
uary — Strange Superstitions — Well-preserved Bishops — Great Hospital 
of San Miguel de Belan — Sisters of Charity — The Hospicio of Guadala- 
jara and its Sixteen Hundred Inmates — The Chapel of the Hospicio — 
Public Schools of Jalisco — Girl's and Boy's High School — Library of 
Thirty Thousand old Books — School of Useful Arts — Musical Talent — . 
Primary Schools — Beautiful Embroidery — The great Cemeterio de 
Bethlem — The Paseo de San Pedro — " A Pleasant Place to Visit " — Inse- 
curity of Life and Property — A strange State of Society — Indian Em- 
broiderers — Indian Statuary Makers of Tonila — Cotton Factories — The 
Theatre and Opera House — Sunday Bull-Fight — The Programme — The 
Amphitheatre — A Quiet Bull and his Fate — A Cowardly Bull — Enraged 
Audience — A Game-fellow — Lively Times — The Bull-Riders — The Bones 
of the Dead Past — Farewell Banquet to Mr. Seward — Eloquent Ad- 
dreses — The Belles of Guadalajara, ..,---. 155 



CONTENTS. 13 

CHAPTER VI. 

Departure from Guadalajara — Killing Bandits — Ancient Bridge — Falls of 
• the Rio Grande — Zapotlanejo — Results of Revolutions and Invasions — 
The Bridge of Calderon, where Hidalgo vfa-B Defeated — How the Indian 
Patriots Fought — Scene of one of Rojas' Butcheries — The Terror of Jar 
lisco — Buying out an Establishment — The Grateful Merchant — Tepotit- 
lan — Jalos — Great Disproportion of the Sexes — Venta de Los Pagarros 
and how they Kill Robbers There — Great Central Plateau of Mexico — 
St. John of the Lakes — Its great Church, and What I Saw in It — A 
Scene of Bewildering Beauty — Lagos and Its Churches — A Well-pre- 
Bcrved Roman, and My Conclusions — Scenes in the Market Place — Pig- 
headed Mules — Arrival at Leon — The City and the People — Discounting 
a Miracle— The Feast of All-Saints— Pockets Picked and Charity Mis- 
construed — Narrow Escape from Bandits — '"Tis Distance Lends En- 
chantment" — The Mines of La Luz — A Touching and Characteristic 
Scene — The Foot-Hills of Guanajuato, 180 

CHAPTER VII. 

Guanajuato— First View of the Triple City— Marfil— The Reservoirs— Se- 
nor Rocha and His Works- La Presa— El Buffa— The Silver District of 
Guanajuato — Statistics of the State — Improvements — Schools and Col- 
leges— Gov. Antillon— The Mint and What is Done There— Castle of 
Grenaditas and its History— The Fate of Hidalgo — Street Peddlers and 
Their Wares— How the Poor People Live — Curious Scenes at the Mark- 
ets — Heavy Stealings — Severe on the Clergy — College Examination — 
Beneficiating Silver Ores — The Great Mine of Sau Jose de Valenciano 
■which has Produced Eight Hundred Million Dollars — Ruin and Desola- 
tion — A Deserted Minina; Town — Immense Subterranean Works — The 
Great Shaft — A Game Padre — Fearful Murder — The Gentlemen of the 
Road — Generous Brigands — A Foreign Innovation — Mine of the Ser- 
rano — In the Tunnel — Pyrotechnical Display of Indescribable Grand- 
eur — The Lower Depths — Sights Under Ground — How People Live and 
Die There — A Speechless Auctioneer, 211 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Departure from Guanajuato — A Sand -River— A Beautiful and Fertile Coun- 
try — Feudal Castles in the Nineteenth Century — Salamanca — The Late 
General Doblado — The Game of the Country— Celaya— Interesting Rel- 
ics—A Mexican Woolen Factory— Artesian Well— Fountains— Salva- 
tierra — A Chance for Railway Builders — Hacienda of Fifty Tliousand 
Acres— A Poverty Stricken Population in the Richest Land on Earth- 
Abundance of Old Churches— Great Need of a Continental Railway— A 
Better Time Coming— Approach to the Historic City of Queretaw), - 220 



14 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER IX. 

Arrival at Queretaro— All Quiet— How the Aqueduct was Built— The 
" Hercules " Cotton Factory and its Surroundings— First Class Opera- 
tives—The Procession of the Host— The Englishman's Mistake— That 
same old Mule Story— Welcome to Mr. Seward— Scene of the Downfall 
of the Empire of Mexico — Popular Opinion of Maximilian and Car- 
lotta— The Siege of Queretaro— Position of the Contending Armies- 
Desperation of Maximilian's Situation— His Offer to Abandon His Army 
to Secure His Own Personal Safety — An Immediate Assault at all Points 
ordered by Escobedo — Was Lopez a Traitor ? — Last Scene in the Con- 
flict—How Maximilian Was Taken— His Hopes for Pardon— Conversa- 
tion between Maximilian and Miramon — The Scene at the Cerro De Las 
Campanas— Execution of Maximilian, Miramon and Mejia— Was It 
Right, or Was It Not ?— Visit to the last Scene in the Tragedy of the 
Empire of Mexico— All that Is Left of the Empire, - - - - 238 

CHAPTER X. 

From Queretaro to Mexico — A Magnificent Agricultural Country — San 
Juan del Rio — Old Lava Fields — The Land of the Maguey — The Century 
Plant and what it Produces — Arroyo Zarco — The Rural Guard — Tepeji 
Del Rio — First View of the Valley of Mexico — The Blind Man and His 
Daughter — Lake Zupango — Pulque and the Pulqueries — Pig-Skins and 
How Procured — A Startling Resemblance — Reminiscence of White 

Pine The Story of Downton and Gerry — A Family Resemblance — Sad 

Results of Business Reverses — The Valley of Mexico — Reception of Mr. 
Seward by the Cabinet of the President — Welcome to the Capital as the 
Nation's Guest by the Citizen Pre'?ident, Benito Jiiarez — In the City of 
Montezuma, 251 



CHAP TER XI. 

Mexico and Its Surroundings — Insecurity of the Roads — Excursion to La 
Canada — Visit to Tacubaya — The House of Gen. Urega, and Who I 
Found There — The American Cemetery — A Startling Inscription — The 
Gate of the Beam — The Grand Canal and Floating Gardens of Mexico — 
Scene of Guatamozin's Defeat — Church and Tree of the Noche Triste — 
The San Cosme Aqueduct — An Aztec Idol — How Police Matters are 
Managed — A Polite Thief— Popocatapetl and the Woman in White — 
The Survey by General Ochoa — Interior of the Crater — How Cortez Pro- 
cured Powder — Dinner with Matias Romero — Dinner vnth the Family 
of President Juarez at Chapultepec — The Palace and Its Surroundings — 
Souvenirs of Maximilian — Poor Carlotta — The Feast of Belshazzar — • 



CONTENTS. 15 

View from the Verandah of Chapultepec — Molina del Key, Contreras 
and Churubusco — The Alameda of Mexico, .... . 274 



CHAPTER XII. 

Revelings in the Halls of the Montezumas— Dinner at the House of Senor 
Lerdo — Toasts in Honor of President Grant — Address by Mr. Seward — 
Grand Banquet at the Palacio Nacional — What Was Said and Done 
There — An Era of Good Feeling — Speech by President Juarez — Speech 
by TJ. S. Minister Nelson — Mr. Lerdo's Response — Mr. Seward's Ad- 
dress — Altamerano the Indian Orator and His Eloquence — The Great 
Speech of the Occasion — Other Speeches and Toasts — Improvisional 
Poetry, 394 



CHAPTER XIII. 

Excursion up the Grand Canal — A Small Water Party — A Jolly Time All 
Around — Picnic at an Indian Village — An Exciting Scene on the Re- 
turn Trip — Free Baths and no End of Fun — Circus in an Old Convent — 
Opera and Theatre — Grand Closing Ball and Banquet — The Most Bril- 
liant Scene Witnessed in America — Toasts and Speeches — The Darien 
Ship-Canal — Don Benito Juarez — His Personal Appearance and Charac- 
teristics — Curious Tradition and Coincidences — View of the Valley from 
Tacubaya, 308 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Amid the Ruins of Empires — Behind the Scenes after the Play — Plunder 
from the Palace of Chapultepec — The " Theatrical Eflfects " Imported by 
Maximilian — His Carriages, Pictures, Plate, and Household Wardrobe — 
The Farce He Played in — Court Costumes and Imperial Decorations — 
His Gold and Silver Plate — His State Carriage and Billiard Tables — 
Maximilian's Court and Empire — His Fatal Mistake — The Archives of 
Mexico — Maximilian's Arrival in Mexico — The Mask Removed — The 
Black Flag Decree — The Apologists of Maximilian — The Records of the 

Empire and What They Prove — The Victims of the Black Flag Decree 

Letters written by Generals Arteaga and Salazar just before Their Exe- 
cution — Remonstrance of the Belgians — Aztec Relics — The Great Sacri- 
fical Stone, etc. — A City Under a City — American Origin of the Aztecs — 
The House of Hernando Cortez — National Jlonte de Piedad of Mexico — 
The Model Pawnbroker's Shop of the "World — Five Millions Dollars 
Worth of Jewels and Plate in one Room — The Sword of General Valen- 
cia and Jewels of Isabella the Catholic, on Pawn — A Commentary on 
Human Pride and Ambition, ---.-.... 341 



16 CONTENTS 

CHAPTER XV. 

Religion and the Arts — Our Lady of Guadaloiipe — How tlie Virgin Ap- 
peared as an Indian Woman to Juan Diego — Story of the Apparition 
and the Erection of the Church and Chapel — Oxir Lady of the Reme- 
dios — The Shrine of Guadaloupe, and the great Annual Pilgrimage to 
it — A Visit to the Church — Scenes Outside and Inside — Sale of Books 
and Charms— The old Bell-Makers — The Offering of a Spanish Rover — 
The Miraculous Fountain — Boring for Oil — A Religious Picnic — Home 
of the Inquisition and Plaza cle San Domingo — The Protestant Missions 
in Mexico — Protestantism — Statement of Rev. H. Chauncey Riley and 
His Appeal for Funds in Aid of the Work — The National School of Art 
and Design — Pictures Old and New — The Art Galleries — Department of 
Coins and Medals — The College of Mines — Rare Collection of Minerals, 364 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Social Condition and Customs — The Women of Mexico— Their Character 
and Social Condition — Curious Phases of Social Life — The Children of 
Mexico — Trade of the City — The Beggars — The Ancient Customs and 
Superstitions of Southern Europe — The Evil Eye — Hospitable Treat- 
ment of Guests — Courtesy Misconstrued — The Story of Uncle Freddy, 
alias Washington the Second — Norton the First — The Chinese Prin- 
cess — How Uncle Freddy Became the Guest of Mexico — Foreigners in 
Mexico — Sharp Business Transactions — Devotion of the Women and 
Their Sympathy for the Unfortunate — How Mr. Fitch was Swindled — 
Honoring the Uniform — Mr. Seward's Fossil Elephant and what became 
of it — Politeness of the Servants — Census Taking in Mexico, - - 391 

CHAPTER XVII. 

The Soldiers of Mexico — The Invalid Corps — The Press — Literary and 
Musical Attainments — A Persevering Printer — Immigration — Public 
Improvements — The Great Need of Mexico — The Political Situation — 
Its Hopeful and its Discouraging Aspects — Moral Responsibility of the 
United States — Advocates of Annexation — A Plea for Mexico, - - 405 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

Departure from the Capital — By Rail to Puebla — The Pulque Country — 
The Pyramids of Tehuacan — Battle Field of Otumba — The Grandest 
Mountains of the Continent — Orizaba, Popocatapetl, La Muger En 
Blanco and the Malinchi — The City of Puebla by Daylight and Moon- 
light — War's Desolation — Siege and Capture of Puebla — Cinco De 



CONTENTS. 17 

Mayo — The Pronunciamento of tlie Sierra — Excursion to the Ancient 
City of TIaxcala — The Castles of the Four great Chiefs of tlie Tlaxcalan 
Republic — The Banner of Cortez and Ancient Archives — The Secret 
of the Gold Placers— The Virgin of TIaxcala— The Oldest Church on 
the Continent — The Miracle of TIaxcala — Carrying Dead-Heads — An 
Excursion to Cholula — Novel and Enthusiastic Reception — The Music of 
Other Days — Mr. Seward's Address to the Cholulans — Time's Reveng- 
es — Strange Commingling of the Past and Present — The Great Pyra- ^ 
mid — A New Theory Concerning It — The Cathedral of Puebla — Its 
Wonderful Wealth and Beauty — Other Objects of Interest — Buried 
Treasure— An Imposition — Guatamozin's Last Will — Protestantism in 
Puebla, 440 



CHAPTER XIX. 

From Puebla to Orizaba — Last Diligence Ride in Mexico — Amazoc and Its 
Iron- Workers — Eccentricities of the People — Bargaining for Spurs — A 
Mexican Bridge-Builder — An Aztec Tower and Sun-Dial — Daring Feat 
of a Guerrilla — The Home of the Palm and the Maguey — A Colored 
Gentleman in Mexico — Buying Cigars — The Rural Guard — A Change of 
Scene — Las Cumbres — Wonderful Scenery — Descent into the Tierra Ca- 
liente — Orizaba, 452 



CHAPTER XX. 

A City with a Past and Future but No Present — Grass-Grown Streets — 
The Indian Packers and How They Take in Ballast — Battle-Scarred 
Churches — Outrages. Committed by Maximilian's Troops — The French 
Colonel — A Woman's Revenge — Curious Christmas Festivities — Playing 
the Devil — A Whole Community Gambling — Stoicism of the Losers — 
The Falls of the Rincon Grande — A Tropical Paradise — Hacienda de San 
Antonio and How They Make Sugar — CoflTee Plantations — Resources of 
Mexico — The Great Conducta — Its Encampment at Orizaba and March to 
Vera Cruz — How Silver is Carried and Handled in Mexico — The Indian 
Specie-Counters at Vera Cruz — Reminiscence of the Mexican War, - 473 



CHAPTER XXI. 

Resting at Orizaba — Ascent of the Sierra Borregas — ^Visit to an Indian Vil- 
lage — Departure for Vera Cruz — Magnificent Scenery of the Chiquihuite 
Pass — The Great Railway Bridge — Reception at Vera Cruz — The Spe- 
cialities of the City — Souvenirs of Past Conflicts — The Zapilotes — A 
Lively Hotel — Lotteries — The Chain-Gang — ^A Private Quarrel — Curious 

2 



IS 



CONTENTS. 



Statistics— An Unpopular Institution— Steamer Arrival— A Mixed Cargo 
— Sunday Amusements in Vera Cruz— Bear and For Bear— How the 
California Bear Sampson Entertained the Mexican Bull — Amateur Bull- 
Fighting— The Amateur's Story of His Experiences— The Castle of San 
Juan de Ulloa— What it was and What it is— A Great Work in Ruins— 
The Dungeons and Political Prisoners— The Fate of General Castillo— 
" WTio Enters Here Leaves Hope Behind — Mementoes of the Last French 
Invasion— The Perplexities of the Author— The Eanchero and His Pig 
— The Horse and the Zapilotes — Which Whipped ? - . . . 508 



CHAPTER XXII. 

Mr. Seward's Farewell Letters to the Members of the Juarez Government 
and Others — Voyage from Vera Cruz to Yucatan — Sisal — Its People, 
Trade and Specialities — The Highest-Roofed Theatre on Earth — Visitors 
from Merida — Letter from the Governor of Yucatan — Our Last View of 
"Ke^co—Adios ! 520 



A GALA TRIP THROUGH MEXICO. 



CHAPTER I. 

FEOM SAK FEANCISCO TO COLIMA. 

(~^ LOEIOUSLY beautiful was that bright morning 
^^of the 30th day of September, 1869, when I reluc- 
tantly left the darkened chamber in which lay the mor- 
tal remains of a brave man, and true champion of free- 
dom, my friend of many years, Senor Don Jose A. Godoy. 
the Consul of Mexico, who had fallen dead while 
attending the last reception of Mr. Seward on the even- 
ing previous, and bidding farewell to his stricken 
family, hurried on board the Pacific Mail Steamship 
Go's magnificent steamer Golden City, which was lying 
at her berth in San Francisco, with steam up, ready to 
bear us away to the tropics. 

Blue and clear was the sky above us, calm and mir- 
ror like the surface of the broad Bay of San Francisco, 
soft as velvet in all their outlines, the bro^vn, grey, and 
mauve-tinted mountains which surround it, when seen 
through the purple haze of Autumn which enveloped 
city and village, hill, mountain, island, fortress, and 
inland sea, alike in its tender and loving embrace. 
When I come again from beyond the snowy mountains, 
and the shores of another ocean, a change will have 
come over all the fair scene, and hill and valley, moun- 



20 



GOOD-BYE TO SAN FKANOISCO. 



tain and plain, will rejoice in tlie verdure and flowers 
of the spring-time. " Good-Bye !" " Good-Bye !" " Good- 
Bye ! " The last friendly hand is shaken, the last 
aftectionate embrace is given, and the plank hauled in, 
the crash of the great gun on the forward deck star- 
tles the echoes of all the hills around the bay, the 
great steamer moves slowly away from the wharf, 
swings around with the tide in the harbor, and gliding 
swiftly 23ast the city front, the shipping from many 





THE GOLDEN GATE. 



ports, Alcatraz, Point San Jose, Fort Point, and the 
Presidio de San Francisco, passes through the Golden 
Gate, and heads out into the blue, illimitable Pacific. 

The sea is calm, and the sky is clear, and everything 
promises a quiet, pleasant voyage. Capt. Lapidge, is 
an old and thorough seaman, Purser Mattoon under- 
stands making everybody comfortable, and is disposed 
to do it in an oif-hand, unobtrusive way, and Dr. Mil- 
ler, U. S. A. is on hand to attend to all who need his 
professional services; so that all our wants, and all 
contingencies are provided for. From one end of the 
steamer to the other, everything goes on like clock- 



VOYAGE DOWN TIIE COAST OF CALIFOKIs^IA. 21 

work, — no noise, no loud talking, no confusion ; Chinese 
sailors spread the a"\Miings which are to shelter the 
passengers from the sun of the tropics, and Chinese 
waiters, clean, quiet, and orderly, with their list-soled 
slippers, move quietly about the cabin and state-rooms, 
keeping everything in order, and seeing that no wants 
of the passengers are left unattended to. On the 
whole, I think it must be conceded that John is the 
" coming man," and take him all in all, he is a pretty 
good fellow ; it is well for us that no worse man is to 
come in his place. 

On the afternoon of the second day — Friday — we 
were passing the islands off the Santa Barbara Coast, 
having made two hundred and thirty-five miles during 
the first twenty-foiu' hours. On Saturday we were 
out of sight of land all day, and the register showed 
a progress of two hundred and twenty-two miles for 
the last twenty-four houi's. On Sunday afternoon Ave 
came in sight of the large barren island of Cen-os, and 
its outlying rocks and lesser islands, and the whole of 
the afternoon and evening skii'ted along the treeless, 
red mountain shores of Mexican Lower California. 'No 
living thing was to be seen on these verdui-eless moun- 
tains. Sitting back far enough fi'om the rail to hide the 
blue stretch of water, you might fancy yourself upon the 
Colorado or Mojave Desert, T^^ithout any serious stretch 
of the imagination ; the same saffi'on-hued horizon, 
pale T)lue sky, red, broAvn, and yellow, jagged, naked 
mountains ; the same eternal silence of utter desolation. 
" Mother," said a little prattling child upon the steam- 
er, " mother, do. anybody live in that land ? " " No 
my darling, I hope not," was the earnest reply. God 
is merciful, and I trust she was right. 



22 -JIEETING OF STEAMEES AT NIGHT. 

Sunday service at sea, of the Episcopal Cliurcli, 
was read l)y Capt. Lapidge, tlie few cabin passengers 
all joining in the responses, and then we went out on 
deck to watch the changes in the dreary, barren shore. 
A single little sail came in sight, and passed near 
enough for us to see that the craft was a sloop, of j)eT- 
haps, twenty tons burthen, flying no flag, and carryino- 
some half dozen dark-hued men — Italians, or other 
southern Europeans — who made no signals, and evi- 
dently did not care to court attention to the business 
in which they were engaged, whatever that might be ; 
there is a little smuggling carried on, even upon this 
baiTen coast. 

Monday morning found us |)lowing through a glassy 
sea, with no land, no sail, no biixl in sight ; only the 
great, glaring sun in the unclouded sky, and the deep, 
blue, glittering sea below. At 2 p. m. we were in sight 
of land once more — as desolate and uninhabited as the 
last. Had any one told us that day, that the noble 
steamer which was bearing us so safely and swiftly 
over the sea, would in less than six months more be ly- 
ing an utter wreck on that terrible shore, with what 
increased interest would we have gazed on both! 
Passing Santa Margarita Island and Magdalena Bay, 
at sunset we were well toward Cape St. Lucas, or 
within one hundred miles thereof. At 5 p. m. we were 
a thousand miles from home. 

At 8 p. M. a light was seen before us ; then blue and 
red signal lights were sent up, and answered, and soon, 
out of the darkness emerged the great hull of the 
steamship Montana. Both steamers stopped, boats 
were sent off to exchange the latest papers from either 
side of the continent and carry letters and messages 



A DESOLATE KEGION. 23 

for tliQ dear ones far away. Then a stream of flame 
shot far out across the waters from either steamer's 
deck, the loud roar of the signal guns filled the star- 
tled air, and the two great black masses moved away 
swiftly into the darloiess again, and each was lost to 
the siirht of those on board the other. 

I know of no scene which one may witness in all 
one's life, more full of unwritten poetry, unenacted 
romance, more dreamily suggestive of " what might 
have been," than this meeting and parting of two 
great steamers on the pathless sea. Who were they 
who crowded the decks and wonderingly watched us 
as we watched them ? In what mysterious way were 
their lives linked with oui-s? Were there any there 
who might have loved us, any we might have loved ? 
What stories of love and hatred, and all the thousand 
emotions which distract the human mind, and affect 
for good or ill a human life, were sjDoiled, when the 
thousand souls Avhich those two steamers bore, came 
thus near together, almost within touching distance, as 
it were, and then parted again, and for the most part 
forever? Had we met and mingled, how the whole 
story of this life, or that, might have been affected, and 
changed it may be for all time. There is food for con- 
jecture and speculation without end in all this, but it 
is only vague unsatisfying speculation after all, and the 
questions suggested to each of us, must remain unan-- 
swered to all, forever. 

Daybreak on Tuesday, October 5th, found us passing- 
Cape St. Lucas, and ivdthin the tropics. Still the same 
di-eary, barren, mountain shore ; not a sign of human 
life have we seen while skii'tino^ alone: the Lower Cali-' 
fornia coast for nearly a thousand miles ; not a tree, not: 



24 CASTOR -OIL WHALES. 

a flower, not a blade of grass, no living thing of any 
kind — only rocks and sand and loneliness, eternal 
silence and utter desolation. All the settlements — and 
they are few at best — are on tke inner or Gulf side of 
the peninsula, and completely hidden from the passing 
vessel. The sun poured down all day fi-om an un- 
clouded sky, and no breeze ruffled the face of the ocean, 
wliich was smooth as a mirror, save where, at regular 
intervals, the long, heavy ground swells came rolling in 
from the south-westward, and pitched and tossed about 
the great steamer like an egg-shell. 
The poet says : - 

" There is no crowd however slight 
But one cockney is there." 

We had ours. He stood looking over the rail, eye-glass 
in place, watching the tumbling of two great monster 
blackfish, which rose and disappeared like porpoises. 
"Aw! what kind of a whale might that be?" he 
demanded. The venerable looking McElroy, who repre- 
sents the TJ. S. Custom-House Department on board, 
promptly replied, " That, my dear friend, is the Castor 
oil whale, " a broad, genial smile of true benevolence 
spreading far and wide over his fine open countenance. 
" Haw, yes ; that's what I thought. We 'ave hoceans 
on 'em in the Hinglish Channel!" was the prompt 
return of the true son of old Albion. 

As the day died out and the sun went down in a 
blaze of glory, all hands assembled on deck to witness 
a sunset in the tropics. We often hear the remark, 
" That sky is unnatural ; it is far too gaudy !" as we 
stand in some art gallery in the cold North before a 
picture in which the artist has faithfriUy labored to 



A TROPKJAL SUNSET AT SEA. 25 

depict tlie glories of a tropical sunset. The paint suffi- 
ciently brilliant to do justice to tlie scene before us that 
evening has yet to be made. A smooth blue sea for a 
base, a soft blue sky above ; along the western horizon 
a row of solid purple clouds standing up like jagged 
volcanic rocks from the bosom of the ocean, for which, 
indeed, they would have been unhesitatingly taken but 
for the constant alteration in their outlines. Every 
moment they 

" Suffered a sea change 
Into something new and strange." 

A sea-lion, a land-lion, a sphynx, a castle, a w^alled city, 
a mighty volcano, an Orizaba or a Shasta, grew each in 
turn, before our wondering eyes. Soon the whole long 
line was cut off ft'om its base, as if by a knife, and 
lifted high into air, and from the bosom of the sea rose 
up another, almost a duplicate of the first. Then the 
intervening sky, from brilliant orange, took on the hue 
of the inner surface of the sea-shell, deepened into the 
brightest vermilion, which glowed like a flame, and 
seemed to give off light and heat of its own, filling all 
the air. As the shadow of evening fell, the horizon 
grew by contrast brighter and brighter, the clouds 
became inky black, while the vermilion sky sj^read out 
like a valley between the tAvo great Sierras — mountains 
of iron in a land of fire. We stood like the wondering 
denizens of another planet in the hour of this earth's 
last agony, and saw " the elements dissolve with fervent 
heat," and mountains undermined go crashing do^m 
into the hungry sea of flame. Then the black curtain 
of night fell over all, and, almost in the twinkling of 
an eye, that strange, wild, weii'd, enchanting scene, 
passed like a dream away. 



26 MANZANILLO. THE GUEST OF MEXICO. 

Wednesday morning found us crossinsj the mouth of 
the Gulf of California, or the Mar de Cortez, as the 
Spaniards termed it, rain pouring down, the sea rough, 
and many on board sick, the ^ATiter among the number. 
Accui'sed be the memory of the man who found the 
ocean first! At 2 p. m., we passed Cape Corrientes. 
and when night came down with an almost impenetra- 
ble pall of darkness on the heaving waste of waters, we 
were within seventy-five miles of the entrance of the 
Bay of Manzanillo. 

Slowly the great steamer crept along the rock-bound, 
dangerous coast, feeling her way cautiously as she went, 
and at 2 o'clock on Thursday morning, almost a week 
from our leaving San Francisco, we felt that we were 
once more in smooth water, and the loud rejDort of the 
steamer's gun conveyed to us the glad tidings that we 
had entered the harbor of Manzanillo, and finished that 
portion of our journey comprised in the voyage down 
the Pacific. The Custom-House officials. Governor Cu- 
erva and staff, and other officers and citizens, came on 
board at once to receive Mr. Seward, congratulated him 
on his arrival, and tendered him in behalf of the Re- 
public and its citizens, the hos23italities of the country. 

At day-break our baggage was sent ashore and passed 
at once, unopened, through the Custom House, and the 
party were then conveyed to the beach in boats carried 
through the surf to the shore on men's backs to the 
solid land. We stood at last on the soil of Mexico, 
saw the steamer sail away through the storm and disap- 
pear in the distance, then turned our faces eastward and 
looked about upon the strange land to which we had 
come, and the strange scenes and strange faces which 
surrounded us. 



VIEW FROM THE IIARBOE. 



27 



Notliing can be more tliorouglily ti-ojDical and attract- 
ive in its aj^pearance tlian Manzanillo as seen from the 
harbor at tliis season of the year. A bay, five miles 
across and nearly round with an entrance half as wide 




BEACH AND HOUSES AT MANZANILLO. 



as the bay on the southern side, surrounded by high 
conical hills, covered with dense foliaged trees, and bright 
and flowering shrubs, forms the harbor, one of the 
finest in the world for its size. The to^vn itself is not 
much to speak of. Half-a-dozen long one-story houses 
with thick adobe walls, white-washed, with large coui-t- 
yards, and surrounded by outhouses, all with broad 
verandahs, are used as general store-houses, offices and 
dwellings, by the proprietors of the American and Eu- 



28 SIGHTS AND SCENES ON SHORE. 

ropean importing houses, while they have their princi- 
pal places of business at Colima, Gruadalajara, and other 
cities in the interior. A dozen or two tule thatched 
huts or jctcals inhabited by natives, and scattered irreg- 
ularly along the beach and on the hills above, constitute, 
with the barndike Custom-House, or ^'■aditana mari- 
tima^'^ the remainder of the town, the whole being a 
mere emharcadero or depot, for the trade of the interior. 

The Americans and Europeans, dress and live much 
as they do at home in their own countries, and appear 
to enjoy life pretty Avell, " considering." Society must 
of course be limited and select. The natives live a la 
Mejicana, wear a costume consisting of a white cotton 
shirt and drawers, and broad-brimmed sombrero. Those 
in good circumstances add Si poncho^ or Mexican woolen 
blanket of fine texture, and those who are out of luck 
content themselves with a shirt or pair of drawers 
alone: if particularly unblessed by fortune they con- 
trive to get along without either, a sotnhrero and breech- 
clout of coarse cotton answering every purpose tolerably 
well. They are excellent boatmen, and generally will- 
ing to work, if employment is offered, at very moderate 
Avages. The women dress as lightly as the men, and 
are in nowise charry of their personal charms. The 
people greeted our party with cordiality, but manifested 
little curiosity. 

The Governor and his friends were all dressed in 
Euroj)ean costume, and though generally ignorant of 
oui' language contrived to anticipate every want, and 
show all possible hospitality. The merchants took pos- 
session of our party, famished us with beds, and sj)read 
hosj)itable tables for us. Capital cigars and cigarritos 
we found here in abundance, and extremely cheap. 



CHEAP LUXURIES. 29 

Thirty-two bunclies of cigarritos, eacli containing thir- 
ty-six, are sold for one dollar, or about two per cent, of 
their retail price in New York or San Francisco. Let 
it rain ! Matches, and all similar trifles made in the 
country, sell at correspondingly low prices, and im- 
ported goods are generally lower than in the United 
States, the duty being about the same, and rates 
nominal. 

From Manzanillo to Colima, about ninety miles, there 
is no wagon-road though one could be easily built. 
Just back of the first range of hills, behind the town, 
there is a fresh- water lake, thirty miles in length, which 
would float a small steamer. By this lake, people are 
carried by native canoes toward Colima for its entire 
length, and from its farther end there is a tolerable 
wagon-road most of the way to that city. 

The Government some time ago commenced to cut a 
canal, a fourth of a mile in length, through the hill 
back of the to^vn, to connect the lake with the harbor, 
and make it possible for small steamers to pass through, 
thus opening up the country to commerce. The work 
was about half finished and then suspended for want 
of funds, about thirty thousand dollars having been 
expended. One hundred Chinamen working at one 
dollar per day, would finish the work in sixty days at 
most. The merchants seem to be doing well. They 
say that the duties are collected regularly and fairly 
now, the old custom of knocking off half or two-thirds 
of the amount on a full cargo, to the ruin of the small- 
er importers, having been abolished by the Juarez 
administration. They have not been sul)jected to 
" forced loans " since the mushroom " Empire " collapsed, 
the last squeeze ha\dng been made in January, 18GG, by 



30 BATTLE OF TILE SHAKKS AND ALLIGATORS. 

the Frencli, wlien tliey levied $300,000 on tlie City of 
Colima, a town of 20,000 to 30,000 people, but were 
forced to decamp by the arrival of tlie Liberal army 
under Gen. Ramon Corona, when only $100,000 had 
been collected. There are still many French families 
residing in the country, and considering the provoca- 
tions which the Mexicans have suffered, they are re- 
markably well treated everywhere. 

The verdure on the hills is magnificent, and wonder- 
fully soothing to the eye grown wearied with the sight 
of the bare, red hills of Lower California, and blinking 
under the rays of the fierce sun of the tropics. All the 
freighting between vessels ani the shore, is done by 
lighters; there is only one miserable old rickety dis- 
used wharf, and everything has to. be carried through 
the surf to the dry land on men's backs. The bay 
swarms with sharks, and the lake with alligators. Two 
years ago a sudden freshet di'ove the alligators out of 
the lake into the bay, and a fight, long, bloody, and ter- 
rible to witness, took place between them and the 
sharks. The inhabitants looked on with calm indiffer- 
ence — it was none of their funeral anyhow — and finally 
saw the alligators " cleaned out bag and baggage " by 
the sharks. This fact is well attested by numerous eye- 
witnesses still living here. On the beach is found the 
machinery for a large sugar-mill, imported six years ago 
at a cost of $30,000, and now lying rusting away in the 
sand. The want of a wagon-road, and the then dis- 
turbed condition of the country, prevented its reaching 
the plantation for which it was intended, near Guada- 
lajara, and may now be left there for as many years to 
come, before the owners will take a new start and get 
it up into the interior, and put it in operation. 



TROPICAL TRUITS, SUGAR AJ^D COFFEE. 31 

The forests all around abound with game, quail, deer, 
wild turkeys, pheasants, partridges of two varieties, 
<fec., &c. It is a paradise for a hunter, and the waters 
of the bay abound with fish of all kinds. 

The rain came pouring down in toiTents for two days 
in succession, so that leaving for Colima was out of the 
question. Meantime we had nothing to do but go 
around and see the sights, such as they are. The beau- 
tiful white coffee of Colima, which is superior to the 
best Mocha, and sells here for a little less than thirty- 
three cents per pound, was carefully examined. Then 
the delicate-flavored and almost pm-e white sugar of 
Jalisco, which sells at ten cents per pound, was duly 
sampled and pronounced excellent and cheap. Tropical 
fruits, oranges, lemons, limes, sweet lemons, pomegran- 
ates, melons, bananas, and various others, nuts, etc., are 
abundant and cheap. In the court-yard of one of our 
hosts, Mr. Dieckman, we found trees loaded with or- 
anges and za^jotes^ and at the lower end of the town, a 
cocoa palm tree, covered with nuts of all sizes. 

We found cigars equal to a fair Havana, made at 
Tepic, selling for two dollars per one hundred, neatly 
put up in boxes. The temptation to smuggle a few of 
them into San Francisco, if we had been going that way, 
would have been almost irresistible. Half a million of 
silver dollars came down here from Guadalajara, in Sep- 
tember, by one train or conducta, and were sent to San 
Francisco by the Golden City, which steamer brought 
them immediately back, on the way to New York or 
Europe, via Panama. They were on board when we 
came down the coast. Even the poorest people appear to 
have some small change, and there is far more money 
in the country, apparently, than our people, who fonn 



32 LOST TREASURE. 

their oj^iiiion from letters ^vritten for publication abroad 
by European correspondents residing liere, generally 
suppose. 

A few years ago a vessel was loading Mexican dol- 
lars in tlie harbor of Manzanillo, when a box or two 
fell overboard, and the divers failed to recover them. 
The boxes at last rotted and went to pieces, and since 
that, fi'om tune to time, the waves during great storms 
wash the dollars ashore. When we arrived the waves 
had been immense, and the shore all along the ft'ont of 
the to^vn, was lined with the poorer natives, hunting 
for the -pTecioTiS pesos. As these men earn their living 
by hunting, and loading and unloading vessels, having 
perhaps tvfo or three days v/ork in a month, a dollar is 
quite a fortune to them, and the finding of two or three 
is an event of their lives. The dollars are stained to 
an inky blackness by long immersion in the sea- water, 
but are still vf orth their face, and no discount is charged 
on them by the merchants, who get them all in the end. 
The people are small eaters in this hot climate, and 
beef is ten cents per pound, and beans fifteen cents, 
while fish can be obtained for the taking from the wa- 
ter, and fruit costs next to nothing ; so that every time 
a native finds one of these dollars, he has secured the 
means of a comfortable living for a month, and may 
consider himself a gentleman for that time if he is of 
economical habits, and not given to gambling. 

We heard much apparently well grounded complaint 
about the management of postal matters in this part of 
the Republic. The Grovernment charges twenty-five 
cents on each letter, but, singularly enough, \vhile there 
are no Government mails between here and the interior, 
there is a Post-Office, and the postage is rigidly exacted. 



A PROFITABLE POSTAL SYSTEM. 33 

Thus a merclicant makes up his correspondence and takes 
his letters to the Post-Office, where he pays twenty-five 
cents on each. There are stamj^s provided for by law, 
but none are for sale here, and the letters receive no 
mark from the Postmaster to show that the postage has 
been paid. Then the merchant dispatches a mail car- 
rier to Colima, and pays him ten dollars for carrying the 
same batch of letters on which he has just paid the 
Grovernment twenty-five cents each. At Colima the 
letters are delivered to the Post-Office, and t^venty-five 
cents each collected again for simply passing them out 
over the counter, as there is nothing to show that 
they have paid the legal dues. Letters come from Maz- 
atlan by steamers, prepaid, and twenty-five cents each 
is collected on them on their arrival here. Then they 
are sent to Colima as stated, and pay again before start- 
ing, and also on their arrival there, or three times in 
all. Letters from San Francisco, by steamer, for per- 
sons here, must be delivered to the Postmaster by the 
purser on his arrival, and twenty-five cents each is 
charged at once before they can go into the hands of 
the persons to whom they are dii-ected. If the entire 
postal system of the country was thus managed, the 
Post-Office Department ought to be a paying institution, 
but I was told that the abuses complained of are excei> 
tional and local, and that the Federal Government does 
not reap the benefit of the imposition. However, the 
tax is a heavy one on the merchants. I was told that 
one house having a depot here and a large store at Co- 
lima, paid last year $6,000 in postage and courier 
charges. 

Despite the incessant rains, our time in Manzanillo 
passed not unpleasantly away, we were elegantly lodged, 



34 VISITORS FROM COLIMA. 

and fed, and cared for kindly every way. Gov. Cueva, 
Senor Kendon, tlie Adniinistrador of Customs, and Mr. 
Morrill, tlie American Consul fi*om Colima, all of wliom 
had come down from Colima to meet Mr. Seward, staid 
with, us until tlie storm at last cleared away on tlie 
niglit of tlie 8tli of October, and we made ready for 
departure. 

Gov. Cueva is a tall, dark, iinely-formed, and intelli- 
gent young man. He is a physician by jDrofession, but 
has been " acting Governor " for some years, and appears 
to be quite popular. He has taken a great interest in 
the establishment of free schools in Colima and other 
towns in the State, and a decided advance has been 
made within the last two years in general education. 
He ajDpears to be fully aware of the importance of pub- 
lic improvements and the development of the great nat- 
ural resources of the country. This little State of 
Colima — The smallest, or one of the smallest in the 
Union — contains a population of sixty thousand, of 
which three-fifths are pure Indian blood, and two-thirds 
of the remainder have but little European blood, a feiv 
only being of pure Castilian descent. Singularly 
enough, this Indian element appears to be the most 
liberty-loving and progressive j)ortion of the j^opula- 
tion, and foreigners generally concede that it is less 
corruptible and changeable than the pure Euro23ean. 
Whatever may be its faults, bull-dog tenacity, courage, 
and love of country are among its virtues and most 
hopeful characteristics. It has capacities which, devel- 
oped by education, may yet prove the salvation of this 
beautiful country. 

Senor Luis Rendon, a small, spare, sharp-featured, 
dark-hued man, appears to be a thorough ' gentleman. 



PEODUOTIONS OF MANZANILLO. 



35. 




SEXOR LUIS llENDON. 



He has effected great reforms in the Custom House 
and is called a " a square man " by the imj^ortiuf'- mer- 
chants who, however, dis- 
like him because he exacts 
full and complete obedi- 
ence to the law, which has 
put a stop to the old sys- 
tem of reductions on im- 
portSj in favor of the great 
merchants, to the ruin of 
the small ones. Under 
his administration, Manza- 
nillo, fi'om yielding live 
hundred thousand dollars 
per annum in revenue to the Federal Government, 
has come to yield $1,500,000. and all without a sin- 
gle wagon-road into the interior in any dii-ection. When 
roads already commenced are finished, a wharf built, and 
some other improvements made, this place will grow into 
a thriving 23ort, and have a grand commerce. 

Give Mexico ten years of uninterrupted peace, and 
Manzanillo, with its natural advantages and the expedi- 
ture of a small sum for improvements, would become an 
important seaport. The town is somewhat unhealthy 
because the lake gets low and breeds fever and ague 
during the dry season, but the Europeans and Ameri- 
cans appear to suffer but little, while the natives, being 
poorly housed and exposed to all sorts of weather, 
are sick half of the time. We saw many of them lying 
around under the verandah, apparently half dead with 
ague. Everything here comes down from the interior 
on mule-back, and it takes six days for a train to make 
the ninety miles from Colima to Manzanillo. Some 



36 EMBAEKATION AND DEPAETUEE. 

tiDie this will he all different. Ali-eady, a telegraph 
line is in operation from the City of Mexico to this 
place, and Mr. Seward was met by congratulatory dis- 
patches direct from President Juarez and Cabinet. 
Stage-coaches and steamboats will come next, and then 
raib'oads and a higher civilization. 

After two days' waiting at Manzanillo the rain sud- 
denly ceased, and a clear sunset gave promise of fine 
weather to follow. At day-break on the 9tli of Octo- 
ber, all Manzanillo was astir, and our party prepared 
to leave for Colima. By arrangement, the entire com- 
pany, " bag and baggage, " was to be trans23orted by 
boats up the Laguna de Cayutlan thirty miles, then 
across the divide of three leagues, between the end of 
the lake and the Rio Maria, in Concord coaches sent 
down by Don Juan Firmin Huarte, the hospitable pro- 
prietor of the immense estate formerly known as " Los 
Chinos, " now as " La Calera, " and thence over the river 
and the succeeding three leagues to that place, as could 
be best arranged under the circumstances. 

As the party left the house and walked out through 
the straggling, crooked street, lined with low, thatched 
huts half of which were flooded from the rains and 
vacated by the o^vners, the people stood hats in 
hands all along the way, to give Mr. Seward a kindly 
parting salutation. All was bustle and confusion at the 
landing. Men were wading back and forth in the 
muddy water, carrying packages, or altering and arrang- 
ing the boats. Five light, strong boats, each painted 
white, red and green — the national colors of Mexico — 
had been provided. Two boats carried the "Seward 
Party, " Grov. Cueva and Seiior E.e ndon ; a third the pro- 
miscuous escort, and the fourth and fifth were loaded 
down with our luggage, provisions, etc., etc. 



PASSAGE UP THE LAGUNA DE CAYUTLAN. 37 

Despite tlie many delays all the party was safely on 
board the boats just after sunrise. The air was still 
and the sky clear, and in a short time the heat became 
almost insupportable. Then, little black-eyed Mexican 
boys, spry and agile as cats, crept around each boat 
hanging out gaily striped awnings, and rich colored blan- 
kets, to shield us fi'om the blazing rays of the tropic sun, 
and we lay do\vn in the boats, at full length, and watch- 
ed with a wondering interest, the shifting of the glori- 
ous panorama before us. The great mountain chain, 
which forms a semi-circle around the inland side of the 
Laguna de Cayntlan, is clothed in magnificent vegeta- 
tion, fi'om the waters edge to its summit ; all the wealth 
of the tropics is lavished on the picture. The long lines 
of palm trees on the heights, cutting sharply against the 
blue sky, seem to have been set there by some cunning 
hand, to make it perfect in all its artistic details. 

The Laguna de Cayutlan runs nearly east and west 
for thirty miles, parallel with and but a short distance 
from the sea, and at this season is fr^om four to ten feet 
in depth, and one to six miles wide. It would fioat a 
steamer the year round. 

Within the charmed circle in which we %oated, all 
was peacefril and still ; there was hardly breeze enough 
to puff out the sails which our boatmen spread to lio-ht- 
en their labors, and the surface of the Lasruna was like 
glass, while at the same time we could hear the hollo^v 
booming of the ocean waves^ and the dull incessant roar 
of the surf, breaking on the beach just beyond the line 
of palm- trees, which bounded the view upon the south. 

Our rowers, five in each boat, nearly naked, or en- 
tirely so, worked well. I never saw better rowers. 
They appeared to be all of pure Indian blood — the 



38 WILD TLOWEKS, PAKIIOTS AND ALLlGATOKlS. 

working element of the country. Their oars all struck 
the water at once, and they sent the boats through the 
water at a high speed. Had they been selected instead 
of the Harvard crew, to row against the Oxfords, I 
would have staked my money on the American side, 
if I chanced to have any to risk. 

On our arrival at Manzanillo fi*om thie steamer, at the 
house of Mr. Bartling, who most hospitably entertained 
our party during our stay, we were provided with six 
excellent camp bedsteads, with beautiful gilded frames 
and canopies, lace mosquito bars, and lace-covered pil- 
lows, rich crimson counterpanes, and tine soft matresses 
complete in every detail. While going up the lake we 
noticed, among the baggage, six neatly wrapped pack- 
ages covered with matting and securely corded, and 
learned with sui'prise that each contained one of these 
beds packed for transportation, and that they had been 
purchased expressly for us at Colima, and were to be 
transported for our especial use from one side of Mexico 
to the other. 

At one point we landed on the rocky shore of the 
Laguna, and gathered beautiful wild flowers, but the 
chaparral was so matted together with tangled vines 
and parasitic and climbing plants, that we could not 
travel ten rods in any direction, and after vainly en- 
deavoring to get a shot at the flocks of gaudy parrots 
which filled the larger trees, we returned to the Laguna 
and were carried pick-a-back, to the boats again. The 
alligators, who fill the Laguna, are very cautious and 
shy, and it was only now and then that one would show 
the point of his dark snout above the surface. A vol- 
ley of ill-directed pistol balls would send him down in 
an instant every time. On the whole I don't think the 



SCENE ON THE BEACH DEJECTED 3IULES. 39 

alligator crop of Cayutlan, will be to any serious extent 
the smaller next season, on account of our visit. 

When we liad gone about twelve miles up the lake, 
the flotilla came to a halt opposite a beautiful rocky 
island covered with giant cacti. All the boats came 
together, and in a few minutes the entire pai-ty was en- 
gaged in discussing, with keen relish, a bountiful lunch. 
When the repast was finished, Gov. Cueva proposed, as 
a sentiment, " Welcome to our distinguished guest ; 
peace, and a better understanding, and more perfect 
friendly relation between the people and Government 
of the great Republic of the United States, and the 
people and Government of the Republic of Mexico." 
The toast was drank with the honors, and duly re- 
sponded to, and the flotilla again moved up the Laguna. 

At 2 p. M., we reached the landing at the eastern end 
of the lake, and found two light. Concord spring coaches, 
sent down fi*om the interior for our use, and a multi- 
tude of attendants waiting to receive us. They had a 
fall pack-train of mules ready to carry the baggage up 
to Colima, but the piles on piles of plunder which came 
on shore from our boats until the whole beach was 
stre^vn with it, startled them not a little, and made some 
of the mules drop theii' ears in utter dejection. The 
mules in common use all over the country are the small- 
est I have ever seen. Some of them do not weis^h 
more than two hundi^ed pounds, and it is a large sized 
one which will weigh three hundred and fifty or four' 
hundred pounds: but like the little horses of the coun- 
try, they are " lightning " when it comes to traveling or 
pulling. 

Three leagues — about seven and a half or at most eight 
English miles — across a flat sandy country, entirely cov- 



40 CROSSING THE RIO DE SANTA MARIA. 

ered witli impenetrable thickets of small thorny shrubs, 
trees of the acacia species, cacti, creeping plants, and 
climbing vines, over a road heavy with the rains, and 
poor at best, brought us to the Kio de Santa Maria, a 
small stream in ordinary times, but now a tremendous 
torrent, thick with mud. It looked wholly impassable. 
On the opposite shore there is a village of palm-thatched 
bamboo huts, inhabited, with one exception, by families 
of the civilized and Christian Indians of the country — 
once peons, but now all enfranchised. The rocky banks 
were lined with dark-skinned men in loose, white cotton 
drawers and shirts, immense broad-brimmed hats, and 
with rawhide sandals on their feet. We signaled the 
boats on the o|)posite shore, and a party of the natives 
immediately put off into the raging torrent, some 
wading as far as possible and pulling the boat by main 
strength, others handling the paddles. 

It looked like certain death, to attempt the passage 
of the torrent in those little boats, but we could not 
stay there for it to fall, and cross we must, or dro^vn in 
the attempt. I essayed the passage first, and though 
we went bounding up and down like an india rubber 
ball, and took water several times, we made the riffle 
in safety, and soon after, Mr. Seward and the entire 
party were across, and proceeded to the house of the 
great landholder of the vicinity, Don Ignacio Largos. 
His house is of bamboo or cane, like the others, and 
has a mud floor, but everything is as clean and neat as 
the parlor of the most thrifty New England housewife, 
and his young wife — a comely wonian of ^ the Spanish 
blood and type — made us at home at once. ^ 

Don Ignacio, a man of about seventy years, l^ut stout, 
and well preserved, with hardly a gray hair in his head. 



A CHANCE FOK SPECULATION. 41 

came in to inform Mr. Seward, tliat tlie stream was too 
liigh to allow of tlie passage of tlie stages, but that 
during tlie night it would subside. They would then 
put the wheels of one side of the stage in one boat, 
and those of the other side in a second, and so row the 
cumbersome vehicles across. Meantime, he and all he 
had was " at His Excellency's service." He had two 
coaches in tolerable repair, which he was ready to hitch 
up to convey us on three leagues more to the " Hacienda 
Calera," the residence of Don Juan Firmin Huarte, 
where we were to pass the night. The old gentleman 
told us that he had about foiu' thousand five hundi'ed 
acres of the best sugar, cotton, and Indian corn land in 
America, and, he did not know exactly how many, 
though quite a number of square miles of good i^asture 
lands in this rancho, which he would §ell me [some one 
had mckedly represented me as the rich man of the 
party] for $8,000 in gold. He had a few thousand cat- 
tle, all good stock, though diminutive, which he would 
also dispose of cheap. There might be 2,000 or 10,000, 
but he would not be particular about a few hundred 
head any way. He wanted to move upon a larger 
rancho somewhere up in the interior. I agreed to think 
it over until I came back, and give him my answer 
then. I trust that he will not get tired out, and die 
waiting to hear from me. 

Dinner, consisting of a variety of meats, vegetables, 
fruits, sweetmeats, and wines, was placed on the table, 
and I take occasion to say that a cleaner, better cooked, 
and better served dinner could not be obtained at any 
hotel in the United States, though there was not a sign 
of a stove, carpet, or even floor about the premises. 

At sunset, we saw our baggage train of pack .mules 



42 OLD BATTLE GKOUND OF SAN BARTOLO. 

arrive on tlie other sLore, and tlie boats commence to 
take it over. We started at niglit-fall for La Calera, 
three leagues fiirtlier on, and were whirled along over 
the heavy road at good speed, by the smart little mules 
furnished us by Don Ignacio. Up to this point the 
country, except for the densely wooded mountains in 
the background, might have been mistaken for the 
Bayou Teche country in Louisiana, though the vegeta- 
tion was more abundant, and the soil richer and softer — 
a fine country for cultivation. Now, we crossed the 
Llano de San Bartolo, a more open country, with occa- 
sional Indian villages. On this plain, the Spaniards 
were defeated with great loss, and driven back to their 
ships, in the time of the conquest by Cortez ; but a sec- 
ond battle resulted in their favor, and the Indian j^ower 
in Colima was forever broken. Passing in the moon- 
light an immense hacienda, with solid stone walls on 
all sides, now partially deserted, we arrived at La Ca- 
lera at 10 o'clock, and were warmly welcomed. 

When we arose at day-break on Sunday and walked 
out upon the broad verandah, which surrounds the 
p-reat house at the hacienda of Don Juan Firmin 
Huarte, the scene before us was entrancingly beautifal. 
The estate occupies a broad valley, through which runs 
a small river, and is surrounded on all sides by moun- 
tains as high as the highest peaks of the Coast Eange 
of California These mountains are covered from base 
to summit ^vith low timber, as thick as it can stand on 
the ground, and all covered with a brilliant green 
foliage, save where the heautifvil primavera, which bears 
great loads of white, red, pink, and blue blossoms, gives 
variety to the scene. This wood is all crooked, and 
mainly worthless for building purposes, though the 



THE GREAT IIACIENDA DE LA CALEB A. 43 

amount of fuel on an acre is enormous Tlie valley 
itself is one grand garden, run to wild. In one place, 
rows of tall graceful cocoa palm-trees, loaded witli fruit 
in all stages of growth, lift their feathery heads in air, 
and call up visions of the gardens of Damascus. Then 
wide fields of sugar-cane, ripe, and ready for cutting, 
then corn-fields, where the- corn is equal in size to that 
of Illinois, rice-fields, and great patches of banana 
plants, fifteen or twenty feet in height, each leaf being 
of the size of a counterpane on a double bed at home. 

Turning our eyes fi-om this scene to that more imme- 
diately at hand, we saw life in the tropics in all its lazy 
luxuriousness. Ui3on this grand hacienda, which is 
exactly as large as the District of Columbia, reside 
three hundi'ed to four hundred natives of pui^e, or 
nearly pure, Indian blood, who are em23loyed as labor- 
ers in the fields and around the mills. The men receive 
thii'ty-seven and-a-half cents per day, and board them- 
selves. They are not very cheap laborers even at that 
price. For their accommodation, a meat-market is kept 
under a large open shed in front of the " casa grander 
This market is supplied mth beef fr'om cattle killed 
dui'ing the night — we had been disturbed in our sleep 
by the bellowing of the poor beasts — and the market 
was in fall operation when w^e saw it at day-break. 
The women by dozens, tall, slender, and dark, dressed 
in light-colored cotton gowns, without hoops, and bare- 
footed, with black rehosas wi'apped around their shoul- 
ders and heads, half hiding their faces, were buying the 
day's supply of meat for the family, while the men 
lounged about in every variety of dilapidated garments, 
smoking cigarritos. A few wore brilliant-hued serapes 
closely wrapped around them, or thrown with negligent 



44 AN BIMENSE SUGAR-HOUSE. 

grace over one slioiilder. This hacienda has the name 
of being very unhealthy, and many of the men apj^eared 
ill from malarious diseases. The meat was cut in irreg- 
ular pieces with rude knives and axes, and sold at from 
six and a half, to ten cents per pound. Each purchaser 
took but a small piece, about enough for a " square 
meal " for three persons in a cold climate. The fat was 
being tried out for candles in a large kettle in front of 
the market, and the offal was lying in a corner. Swarms 
of long-nosed wolfish-looking dogs hung around, snap- 
ping up every scrap of meat left "within reach, or thrown 
to them. 

Beyond the market stands an immense half-finished 
sugar-house, and all around the place was scattered ma- 
chinery therefor, hardly two pieces, belonging together, 
being mthin hearing distance of each other. The walls 
were of brick made on the place and poorly laid in 
cement. The roof is to be of tiles, but it is not yet 
finished. A vat for water, intended to hold at least 
two million gallons, built of brick and cemented, is 
built along-side. The three great boilers for this mill 
were being towed through the Laguna of Cayutlan — 
having been closed and cemented water-tight to insure 
their floating — as we came up on the previous day. 
The mill cannot be finished in less than six months, and 
meantime a superb crop of cane goes to waste. Oppo- 
site the sugar-mill is a huge building containing a rice 
mill, saw-mill, &c. The sugar machinery and distilling 
apparatus are from Hamburg, the steam-engines and 
boilers from England, and the rice and saw-mills fr'om 
Boston and San Francisco. Everything consumed on 
the place is raised on it. Between the two mills is an 
enormous ditch or race for carrying the water to a great 



DON JUAN FIRMIN HUARTE. 45 

turbine wheel wliich is to run some of the machinery 
and assist in irrigation. The grounds all around are 
filled with carts and other agricultural implements, ex- 
posed to sun and rain, and a great part of the work 
done on the buildings and ditch, <fec., has been wasted, 
because not half done, — a set of incompetent theoretical 
Eui'opean engineers, ha\dng botched everything from 
the start. The proprietor, Senor Huarte, now sees how 
he has been imj)osed upon, and when we were there, 
was endeavoring to secure the services of a clear-headed 
practical American, then at Colima, to take charge of 
the work and carry it on to completion. He has al- 
ready expended $200,000 on improvements on his estate 
and from appearances, it will cost fully half as much 
more before he will derive an income fi'om it. The 
fields are rudely fenced with round poles, and cultiva- 
ted in a very primitive manner with clumsy agricultui^al 
implements. When in full operation ^vith proper man- 
agement, the estate ought to pay interest on a million 
dollars. 

Senor Huarte is a native of old Spain, short, dark, 
rotund, polished in manner, courteous and hospitable, 
and fond of doing ever}i;hing on a princely scale. His 
grand house is at Colima, where his children reside — he 
is a widower — and this is only his country residence. 
During our stay, he entertained us on a scale of mag- 
nificence which puts the hospitalities showered on our 
visitors to California com23letely to shame. His kitchen 
swarms with domestics, male and female, and at his 
table, course after course of meats, fowls, vegetables and 
fruits follow each other with rapidity, for hoxu's at a 
time, and are washed dovni with wines from every grape 
growing country from Ay and Malaga, to Sonoma. 



46 EUEAL MASS A^B SUISTDAY SCENES. 

When we arose on Sunday morning we, found a fat, 
round-bellied, jolly-looking priest, in black, sitting in 
tlie door- way, while his assistants were hanging a bright, 
large-patterned chintz curtain up along the wall under 
the lower verandah, and preparing for mass. Donning 
his rich embroidered white satin robes, he opened the 
ser^dce. The native women and children came stealing 
quietly in, and knelt on the pavement, in the great 
walled area by themselves, while the men in lesser 
numbers came in, and knelt or sat carelessly about in 
the verandah. The priest read his prayers in an inaud- 
ible voice in Latin, then, seated in a chair, read indiffer- 
ently a very good, sound, practical, moral sermon in 
Spanish, then concluded the services "with bell and 
candle," and then proceeded to pack up his traj^s. I 
observed that Seiior Huarte stood by as " patron " dur- 
ing the services, but the congregation, consisting of per- 
haps one hundred, all told, contained no other men of 
intelligence or education. Gov. Cueva, Seiior Rendon, 
and the other educated men who were with the Seward 
party, regarded the priest and his j)roceedings with ap- 
parent indifference. When the service was over the 
priest packed up his things, mounted his little mule, 
took his umbrella in his hand, and galloped away to 
hold service somewhere else. His figure as he galloped 
off was so strikingly Spanish and picturesque that it 
might answer for an illustration of Gil Bias or one of 
Cervantes works. 

All that morning mounted men were galloping back 
and forth, receiving orders from Senor Huarte, hat in 
hand, or detailing the latest news from the river. At 
2 p. m. th« stages arrived, and the baggage, which had 
come up meantime, was packed and started off. Having 



A MEXICAN COACH AND SIX. 47 

done tlie honors of liis country house to the party 
Senor Huarte announced his intention of accompanying 
us to Colima, and acting the host there. As we left La 
Calera, the party consisted of Mr. Seward, Fred Seward 
and wife, Abijah Fitch, Senor Don Francisco, Javier 
Cueva, Governor of Colima, Senor Francisco Gomez 
Palencia, his Secretary, who is also " Dijnitado Suplente 
at Coiigrem de la TJnion^'' from Colima, Senor Damiar 
Garcia, " Cajntan de huqtte y Director Politico de Man- 
zanillo ;" Seiior don Luis Rendon, " Administvador del 
Aduana Maritima del Departamento de Colima /*' Senor 
Jacinto Canedo, ^^Oficial.2^ de la Aduana MaHtima del 
Manzanillof^ Dr. Augustus Morrill, Consul of the 
United Sates at Colima, the ^^aiter, and about fifty fol- 
lowers of all classes, not for2:ettinoj to mention Mi\ 
Seward's colored servant, John Butler, who condesciend- 
ingly taught our language to the Mexican servitors 
doAvn stairs, while Mr. Fitch did the same to our host 
above. If "Pigeon-English" did not break out as an 
epidemic at La Calera immediately after our departiu-e. 
I can only account for the fact by assigning it to a 
special interposition of an All-Merciful Providence, in 
behalf of an afflicted people. 

To each coach, four little mules were harnessed abreast 
at the lead, and two a trifle larger at the wheel. Half 
a dozen men held the six mules until ready to run, then 
we "cast off;" the '"'"cochero yelled," the ^'"poRtillionV cursed, 
and cracked his whip, and we went off like a railroad 
train. When we came to a particularly heavy place in 
the roa'ti the cochero hissed," ist^ i-s-a-h, i-i-i-s-s-s-t-a-a-a !" 
and shouted, "Aha, ha-ha-ha-ha, ha, h-a-a-a-a!" inces- 
santly, while the postillion lashed the poor little panting' 
mules furiously, and occasionally jmnped oft' and varied 



48 



WATER-BEAKERS OF MEXICO. 



tlie performance by stoning them, tlien jumping l)ack to 
tlie seat Avliile tlie coach was in full motion. These 
postillions carry matting sacks holding about half a 
peck, which they fill with stones about the size of a 
hen's egg, and keep in reserve for emergencies. If the 
team balks, or is stalled for a moment, they will send a 
steady stream of these stones through the air, hitting 
each mule on the head in turn, with the accuracy of a 
Western shar2:)-sliooter. 

Some places which those little mules took our heavy 
coaches through, hardly seemed passable, but they did 
it. The old simile of the " rat running off with a hay- 
stack" loses all point when applied to these little 
Colima mules, but it is death on the rats, nevertheless. 
Four "j)olice of the road," mounted on little agile 
horses, with costly saddles and rich trappings, each man 

carrying a 
machete, or 
st r a i g h t , 
short sword, 
Henry rifle, 
and a Colt's 
revolver of 
the finest 
p a 1 1 e r n . 
rode in ad- 
vance, and 
fou r fine, 
tall, intelli- 
gent- look- 
ino; men of 

the Custom-IIouse Gruard, still more splendidly equipped 
and armed, rode behind us. One of these last men was 




SENOK nUAKTE's HOUSE AT COLIMA. 



OOLIMA THE BEAUTIFUL. 49 

about tweuty-iive years of age, of olive complexion, 
classic features, six feet three inches in height, and slim 
and straight as a young palm tree. I never saw a finer 
rider — all these men ride like Centaurs — or a hand- 
somer man. His belt buckle was of finely wrought 
silver, and his pistol holster and pistol, marvels of rich 
ornamentation in the same metal. 

At Tecolapa, twelve miles from La Calera, we saw long 
rows of Indian women going to the well with water-jars 
poised on their shoulders, exactly as has been done in 
Palestine from the days of Jacob and Rebecca to our 
own day. 

It is thirty-six miles from La Calera to Colima. The 
Government is spending a large sum in grading a wagon- 
road over the mountains from Colima to the sea, and 
the thirty miles nearest Colima are finished. But the 
storm had torn it up fearfully, and in many places it was 
almost impassable. Rain came on, and when the moon 
went down behind the mountains, the darkness added 
to the difficulty of the trip, and we went on at a snail's 
pace. We changed teams three times in the thirty- 
six miles, but it was 2 o'clock in the morning before we 
emerged from the long " Via de Colima " upon the well- 
paved streets of that fine old city, and our coach, ^s-ith a 
rattle and uproar which awakened all the sleeping watch- 
men, rolled up to the door of the truly palatial man- 
sion of Senor Huarte. , 



CHAPTER II. 

COLIMA. 

IT was 2 O'clock in the morning,on Monday, OctoT3er 
llth when we entered Colima. We swallowed a 
hasty lunch, and retired to bed just as the watchmen, 
whom we had noticed sitting along the sidewalk, with 
muskets in their hands, and great oil-fed lanterns by 
their sides blew all their whistles, and, as with one 
voice, drawled out the hour, "3 o'clock in the morning, 
and all quiet," (in Spanish,) a proceeding totally unnec- 
essary, as the Cathedral and different church bells all 
strike the hours, and in fact give the cue to the watch- 
men, none of whom have anything like a time-piece of 
their own. It seemed as if we had just closed our eyes 
in welcome sleep, when the aii' was filled with shrill 
and piercing music, the sharp rattle of the kettle-drum, 
and the blare of trumpets. 

Awake in an instant, I listened in doubt, and for 
some minutes I tried vainly, to decide where I was and 
to what I listened. The music was such as enlivened 
the march of Cortez and Pizarro, and their companions, 
when they came to spread desolation and the religion 
of the cross, through peaceful and unoifending lands, 
but the air must have been centuries older : if it resem- 
bled anything originating since the flood, it was "The 
White Cockade." 

I looked down at the bed, with its crimson and fringed 



THE MUSIC OF CORTEZ. 51 

counterpane and gilt canopy, and from that to the walls, 
painted in pale blue, and frescoed, and the cream-colored 
ceiling, with cross-beams of a soft, chocolate color, and 
then went to the iron-latticed window and looked down on 
a neatly-paved court, around which the house was built, 
and the great staircase with its wealth of brilliant-hued 
tropical flowers and climbing delicate-foliaged plants, 
and its Moorish dome painted in fresco. Where was I ? 
Opening the door of my bedroom, I looked into the 
grand saloon, about sixty or seventy feet square, with 
its walls and ceiling painted like those just described, 
its glazed tile floor, double rows of Moorish arches and 
pillars supporting the roof, and chandeliers suspended 
with iron chains from the ceiling, and the long table 
with its crimson damask covering, and at last the truth 
of the situation flashed upon me. I was not in the 
Alhambra at Grenada, in 1469 — I might have been, for 
everything was as thoroughly Moorish — but in Colima, 
in October, 1869. 

" Is it a revolution ?" I asked of the obsequious servant 
in white, who came at once to attend upon me. "Oh 
no,Senor; only the troops changing guard at the State 
Prison on the Plaza !" 

Going out on the balcony, I looked across the way, 
and saw the band in fi'ont of the prison and the white- 
clad soldiers — all of Indian blood — with red plumes in 
their hats, and Springfield muskets of the year 1862 in 
their hands, going through the form of guard mounting. 
I saw those muskets in San Francisco, during the late 
war with France, it I mistake not. The ruinous old 
cathedral, dating far back into the 1600 and something, 
adjoins the prison, and all around the Plaza runs a row 
of shops, for the most part but one story high. All 



52 VIEW FEOM THE BALCONY. 

the buildings are of brick, with immensely thick walls, 
iron-latticed windows, and heavy wooden doors with 
curious antique iron locks, and flat, red-tiled roofs. 
Beyond the buildings, in all directions, towered the 
feathery cocoa palms and giant-leaved banana trees — or 
plants — of the rich gardens of Colima. Still back of 
them were the green, wooded mountains which suiTound 
this lovely Valley of Colima, with the great "Volcan 
de Colima," with a crown of dark smoke hanging over 
its crater, towering above all else, in the north-east. It 
was a scene worth half .a life to look upon but once. 

On the street the scene was less beautiful, but very 
picturesque and peculiar; not a carriage in sight. 
Little asses, loaded with green corn fodder, or carrying 
frames, in which were set on either side two large red 
earthen water jars, trotted along the long, straight, nar. 
row streets. Men in broad hats and light Summer cos- 
tume of white cotton or linen, trotted along on small, 
but spirited and richly saddled horses, and the common 
men and women of the country, on foot, filled the streets 
and sidewalks. All the marketing, except on Sunday 
when the great market is held, is done at an early hour, 
before the heat becomes annoying, and at sunrise the 
scene on the streets of Colima and all other Mexican 
towns, is most interesting. In the middle of the day 
the streets are almost deserted, and toward evening the 
visiting and fashionable promenading commences. 

The principle dry goods and fancy stores are situated 
in the large buildings, with the portals fronting on the 
plazas, and the sidewalks are, during a considerably 
portion of the day, given up to small traders, who 
spread their little stock of cheap jewelry, slippers, 
watches, cigaritos, knives, swords, and a thousand 



THE STREET AND MAEKETS. 53 

minor articles sucli as are usually found in a " notion 
Store" at " Cheap John's " in the United States, on mats, 
and squat beside them on the pavement. The main 
market is held in an open square, where the more com- 
mon ai'ticles of coarse food, green corn, fruit, etc., and 
the light, strong, red earthen ware of the country are 
exposed for sale in the morning. Colima has 35,000 or 
40,000 inhabitants, and at morning or evening they are 
all on the streets. As our party passed along, people 
always civilly made room, and the better class gen- 
erally bowed politely. In passing the prison, the guard 
invariably presented aiTQS to me, and I found after a 
time, this was all owing to the fact that I wore a vest 
of blue cloth, with brass buttons bearing the coat of 
arms of the State of California, and for my own con- 
venience I was forced to change it, and by donning a 
plain white vest retire to private life. 

They make the change here, when you buy anything 
at a store, do^vn to the smallest fr'action of a cent ; there 
is nothing like the Californian contempt for the odd bit 
in Mexico. Being in want of a pair of light panta- 
loons, I learned to my surprise that there was no ready- 
made clothing store in Colima, and a tailor was sent for 
at once to wait upon me. My order and measure taken 
down, the "artist" departed, and at night returned with 
the garment finished. " How much ?" He at once ren- 
dered me a bill for cloth, buttons, thread, labor, etc, 
amounting to seven dollars and twelve and one-half 
cents, and he would neither take seven dollars, nor seven 
dollars and twenty -five cents, but must have the exact 
change. The barber, boot-maker, shoemaker, and other 
tradesmen wait on you in the same manner, and exact 
the same minute change. 



54 THE GAEDENS OF COLIMA. 

The servants receive $5 to $8 per montli, in extreme 
cases $10, and are exceedingly respectful and attentive. 
They come at the clapping of the hands instead of the 
bell-call, as with us, and always stand bare-headed 
when addressed, even though the rain be pouring, or 
the sun scorching hot. 

At the invitation of Senor Huarte, the party one eve- 
ning rode out to the suburbs, and went through his 
private garden, one of many such in the vicinity. The 
grounds, enclosed with a high stone wall in front, and 
a stake and pole fence elsewhere, probably comprise, all 
told, about ten acres. Trees and plants fill the whole 
inclosure, the paths only excepted, and the variety and 
richness of the fruit and foliage are beyond description. 
Tall cocoa palms, covered with fruit, tower high in air 
in all parts of the grounds, and the bananas, of which 
there are four varieties, fill in beneath as an under- 
growth, though fifteen to twenty feet in height. Then 
there are red-benied coffee trees, with bright green 
leaves ; aguacates^ or alligator pears ; zapotes ; cacao, or 
the chocolate tree; oranges, lemons, peaches, sweet 
lemons, limes, mangoes, cheremoyas, pineapples, citrons, 
and an almost endless variety of minor tropical fruits. 
It would require the space of a full page to name them 
all. Of flowers, there are many, large and brilliant- 
hued, but generally devoid of pleasant odor. It was 
curious to see the common " lady's-slipper " of the 
North, here cultivated beside the gaudy flowers of the 
tropics, and regarded as something very rare and choice. 
Of creeping plants, there are hundreds. One of these 
has foliage like the cypress tree, as delicate as lace, and 
beautiful red blossoms. 

In the corner of the garden stands a large brick house 



AGUA DE COCOA. 55 

witli a wide brick-paved verandali : this is the lounging 
place. Adjoining is a brick- walled tank, thii-ty-five feet 
long and fifteen broad, filled with water kept fresh by- 
constant running ; this is the proprietor's bathing place. 
It is shaded by the palm trees and banana j^lants, and 
the coolness makes it a delightful resort at morning and 
evening in this fervid climate. There is no " fi'uit sea- 
son " here ; it is fruit all the year around. The cocoa- 
nut is never eaten here as with us. The nuts are 
picked when just two-thirds grown and while the fluid 
inside is as clear and limpid as the finest spring water. 
This is called '•^ Agua de CocoaJ'' and is a favorite and 
very healthy and palatable beverage. The Indian ser- 
vants who attend to the garden, had many of the cocoa- 
nuts already prepared with one end chipped off with a 
machete^ to allow the water to be turned out as from a 
jug, and as we took seats in the verandah they served 
it around in large glasses. When the water is turned 
out there remains a white mucilaginous substance like 
thin custard, which is scraped out and eaten with a slip 
of the green husk for a spoon. It is highly flavored 
but not agreeable to the uninitiated. 

From these gardens, fruit is sold to all who desire it. 
Cocoanuts are sold for twenty-five cents per dozen at 
retail, bananas for twelve and a half to fifteen cents a 
bunch of one hundred or more, and other fruit in pro- 
portion. One hundred square yards of ground in ba- 
nanas, will afford sustenance for an entire family the 
year round; why then should people kill themselves 
with hard work? Senor Huarte paid $2,000 for the 
garden, and expended $2,000 more in building the 
house and bath, or |4,000 in all. He thinks that the 
income from this garden may be two per cent per month 



56 PEODUCTIONS OF THE COUNTRY. 

on the money invested, but as he has no guard upon 
the Indian servants he cannot tell how nuich they re- 
ceive, and is probably cheated out of four-fifths of the 
actual proceeds of the sales. 

Senor Canedo, who has traveled in the United States, 
and has some excellent practical ideas, coupled with a 
degree of patriotism which led him to fight valiantly 
against the French, coming out of the war with numer- 
ous honorable wounds, accompanied us, and gave us 
much valuable information in regard to the country and 
its products. He told us that the coffee we saw was of 
the finest variety grown in Colima. This coffee readily 
finds sale at home, and except as a curiosity, is seldom sent 
abroad. The choicest berries picked out by hand, sell at 
the fancy price of one dollar and twenty-five cents in coin, 
and the ordinary berries, really quite as good for family 
use, at twenty-five cents. If he could be sure of getting 
even twenty cents per pound net, in San Francisco, he 
would undertake to famish any amount in a few years. 
The berry is round and white, and the flavor equal if 
not actually superior to that of Mocha. Only about 
40,000 or 50,000 pounds are produced in Colima annu- 
ally, but the amount could be increased indefinitely. 
Cocoa-nut oil, produced from the small round cocoa-nut, 
called " CochitaJ'' abolit the size of a hickory-nut, not 
the ordinary cocoa-nut, is also produced in considerable 
quantity. At Manzanillo it is worth about seventeen 
dollars, coin, per barrel. 

Of tropical fruit, Colima — the State at large— is able 
to raise unlimited amounts, and with good roads to 
Manzanillo, and a foreign market, an immense trade 
might soon be built up. Cacao — pronounced ka-kow, 
not cocoa — or the chocolate bean is produced all over 



PEODUCTION'S OF THE COmSTTRY. 57 

the Tierra Caliente of Mexico, and its product could be 
increased indefinitely. The chocolate made from this, in 
Mexican style, is the most delicious warm drink I have 
ever tasted. It is no more like the coarse compound 
made and sold under that name in the United States 
and Europe, than champagne is like lager-beer. If our 
people knew how to prepare it in the manner in which 
it come upon the table in Mexico, I think that it would 
supersede coffee and tea to a very great extent. 

There is a bright yellow wood called " linoloe " grow- 
ing all over these mountains, which, for cabinet-work, 
the lining of bureau-di'awers, etc., would be invaluable. 
It is similar in color to the California laurel, but some- 
what softer, and exceedingly flagrant, the odor being 
like that of the nutmeg and moss-rose combined, and 
where it is desired to keep fui's or other articles free 
from moths, it has no equal. A delightfrdly fragrant 
oil for toilet purposes, superior to sandal-wood oil, is 
obtained fr'om the berry which the tree jiroduces. 
Samples of this Avere shown me at the extensive drug 
store of Mr. Augustus Morrill, the American Consul in 
the city. This article ought to become of commercial 
importance. There are other equally valuable woods in 
abundance here. Nature has done more for Colima, 
and man less, than for any other country on earth I 
think. 

The people of Colima had heard of the hospitalities 
showered upon Mr. Seward in California, and the other 
Pacific States and Territories of the " United States of the 
North," and they were determined not to be behind hand 
for a moment ; to do them justice I must here admit, in 
spite of my pride as a Californian, that they were very 
far ahead. Upon Mr. Seward's arrival, the ofiicials 



58 INVITATION TO THE PALACE. 

called at once and offered the liospitalities of the city 
and State, as Senor Huarte did those of his house. 

We had hardly time to finish breakfast on the morn- 
ing after our arrival, when two elegantly-dressed gen- 
tlemen, Seiiors Firmin Gonzalez Castro, and Francisco 
Santa Cruz, were introduced ; they informed Mr. Sew- 
ard that they came in behalf of the officers Aduana 
Maritima and the Governor and people of Colima, to 
invite the party to attend a ball and banquet at the 
palace, on the evening of the 12th of October, to be 
given in honor of his visit. The address being duly 
translated, Mr. Seward replied as follows : 

" Gentlemen : I have received only hospitalities, rnide' 
served, since I landed in Mexico. I thank you sincerely for 
the hospitalities you have now tendered me. Desirous of 
extending my acquaintance with the citizens of this ancient and 
respected city of Colima, I will attend the entertainment you 
tender me this evening with much pleasure." 

When evening came, the party entered the carriages 
in attendance at 10 o'clock, and were driven to the pal- 
ace. Arriving there, all were surprised beyond measure 
at the oriental magnificence of the decorations and 
preparations for the occasion. Outside, the building, 
which is of pure Moorish style, was one blaze of light 
A crowd of the common people standing in respectful 
silence blocked the way, and were kept back fi-om the 
portal by the bayonets of a company of regular troops, 
under command of Capt. Reyes. The sidewalks on 
either side were lined with rows of feathery palm-leaves 
fastened upright and decorated with lamps, and the 
whole front of the building was similarly decorated. 
Entering the portal, the soldiers presenting arms as we 



A BRILLIANT AND BEAUTIFUL SCENE. 59 

passed, we found a numerous and brilliant company in 
attendance, and aiTanged near the door to allow the 
party to pass through into the main saloon. 

The scene presented as the party entered was bril- 
liant, and wonderfully beautiful. The main hall is in 
the form of a square, surrounded by wide corridors, sep- 
arated by pillars and Moorish arches, with wide galler- 
ies corresponding above. The floors were covered with 
cloth, and sprinkled with gilt paper-clippings. The 
pillars, the arches, the walls, and the ceilings were loaded 
with the richest vegetation of the tropics ; palm-leaves 
in all their varieties ; the rich, cream-colored blossoms 
of the cocoa, looking like gigantic heads of wheat done 
in wax-work, the green fruit and flowers of the banana, 
and all the indescribable wealth of the tropical flora, 
in variety and brilliance beyond description. Mr. Sew- 
ard exclaimed, " It is a tropical forest, with an oriental 
illumination." Kich Chinese lamps and glasses, filled 
with perfume and brilliant colored cocoa oil, wdth bui^n- 
ing tapers, were on all sides. 

The roof was hidden by a canopy of green, white 
and red gauze, and all around the hall were the flags 
of Mexico and the United States side by side. At one 
end of the hall, " Don Benito Juarez, Salvator de la 
Patria," looked do^vn in grim silence from the canvas, 
and at the other, a handsome portrait of Mr. Seward, 
painted within two days by a native artist, was en- 
^vreathed with laurel and the flags of the two Repub- 
lics. Around the corridor hung the portraits of Gen. 
Ramon Corona, commander of the Army of the West, 
and his compatriots, and the heroes of the Mexican 
War of Independence. On one side of the galleiy 
was the illuminated legend "Al. H. W. H. Seward," 



60 THE BALL AND BANQUET. 

formed from glasses of red, green, and "blue cocoa-nut 
oil, witli tapers hanging against a bank of tropical ver- 
dure. The committee of arrangements must have ex- 
pended a very large sum in the preparations, and all to 
the best advantage. Better taste was never exhibited in 
any ball-room in America. 

Introduction^ over, the band seated in an alcove 
struck up a lively air and the dance commenced. Gov. 
Cueva leading off" with Mrs. Frederick Seward, and Mr. 
F. Seward with the beautiful and accomplished wife of 
Mr. Oetling, the Consul of the North German Confed- 
eration, the most perfect type of the pure S]3anish 
beauty I had seen thus far in Mexico. The ladies, 
wore little jewelry, but were dressed richly and in ex 
cellent taste, and the gentlemen were aii in black, with 
white vests and white kid gloves. 

After midnight the banquet was served in the gallery ; 
the tables which were loaded with every fruit, fowl and 
vegetable of this wonderfally prolific tropical clime, 
and with flowers and wines ad lihitwn^ extended entirely 
around the gallery. After the substantials of the feast 
were disposed of, Acting Gov. Cueva arose and ad- 
dressed the assembled guests and Mr. Seward in the fol- 
lowing language, as nearly as I am able to translate it : 

Sendees : The State of Colima, of which I have the honor 
to be the representative, in order to celebrate the brief visit to 
this city, of this ilhistrious guest, who humbled the proud dip- 
lomats of the Cabinet of Napoleon III., desires tlirough me 
to manifest its appreciation of his friendship and admiration of 
his conduct. Undoubtedly thou (apostrophetic) art the Genius 
of that Democracy who marked the line " Thus far ! " to the 
aggressions of Monarchy ! The wrinkled forehead, and wintry 
hair of Europe, cannot marry with the tropical ardor of Young 



ADDRESSES IN HONOR OF MR. SEWARD. 61 

America. The world has contemplated with awe-struck aston- 
ishment this struggle of giants ; the darkness of the Past wrest- 
ling furiously with the light of the Future, whose lesson has 
been taught us by Progress, and once more the crowned heads 
have trembled before the irresistible power of Fraternity, which, 
invoked by all people must become universal. Mexico, whose 
misfortunes have been such as to place her within the reach of 
French intervention, has, before all free and independent na- 
tions, demonstrated that she is worthy to be ranked in their 
catalogues, and now, feeling the proud consciousness of sove- 
reign power, celebrates, full of joy, and the enthusiasm inspired 
by patriotic sentiments, the fact of the presence among us, of 
the eminent statesman, who from the Casa Blanca at Washing- 
ton, presented a barrier to the irruption of the barbarians who 
presimied to sow in our fertile fields the noxious and rotten 
weeds which have paralyzed the sons of the Old Continent. 
The prouder world of Colon, which was imprudently attacked 
and wounded, answered unanimously with defiance to the pi- 
ratical threat promulgated to her, and then shone with redoubled 
effulgence the sun of the Cinco de Mayo, and blinded with its 
radiance the eyes of the enemies of Kepublican institutions. 
Senor : The glories of my country fraternized with yours in the 
struggle of the past. I salute thee in the name of the Mexican 
people, and ofier you its friendship as sincerely as thou hast 
been a true and sincere friend to the Government and people 
of this nation, who applaud and bless thee ! 

Wlien lie concluded his address, tlie company ap- 
plauded loudly, by the clapping of hands and a " hur- 
rah" a la Americano^ in special compliment to the 
guests. Don Firmin Gonzales Castro, and Don Fran- 
cisco E Trejo, followed in short but fervent addresses, 
in similar spirit, and Mr. Seward then arose and ad- 
dressed the audience, amid profound silence, as follows : 

Senoe Governor and Gentlemen : I thank you with a full 
heart for these most undeserved hospitalities and honors. The 



62 ME. SEWAED's FIEST speech in MEXICO. 

experience of the eighteenth century indicated to mankind two 
important changes of society and government on tlie Continent 
of America. First, that all American States must thereafter 
be not dependent European colonies, but independent Ameri- 
can nations. Second, that all independent American nations 
must thereafter have, not imperial or monarchical governments, 
but republican governments, constituted and carried on by the 
voluntary agency of the people themselves. During a large 
part of my own political life, these great changes of society and 
government have been, more or less, in logical debate contested 
in Europe, and on the battle-field throughout America. While 
they have often involved the American States in civil and inter- 
national wars, they have more than once provoked European 
intervention. A third improvement was easily found necessary 
to guarantee full success to the two principal changes which I 
have already mentioned. This third improvement consists in 
the continuation of the many, or several contiguous nations or 
States, which are weak of themselves, into United States dis- 
tinct nations. My own country, the United States, has taken 
the lead in these changes, so essential in the American hemi- 
sphere. The Mexican Republic has early, and bravely and per- 
sistently, adopted a similar system. Central America, and 
nearly all the South American States, have followed the exam- 
ple thus set by the United States and the Mexican Republic. 
One additional principle remains to be adopted, to secure the 
success of the republican system throughout the continent. If 
it shall become universal on the American continent, we have 
reason to expect that the same great system may be accepted by 
other nations throughout the world. That additional principle 
is simply this : That the several American Republics, just as 
they constitute themselves, while mutually abstaining from in- 
tervention with each other, shall become more, than ever here- 
tofore, political friends through the force of moral alliance. 
This, in short is the policy which I have inculcated at home, 
and which, with your leave, and the leave of others interested, 
I shall commend, as far as possible, to the Republics of Mexico, 
Central America and South America. I sincerely trust that 



GEAITD FANDANGO. 63 

the severest trials of the republican system are already passed 
in Mexico, and I shall never cease to pray God for her contin- 
ued independence, unity, prosperity, and happiness. 

When Mr. Seward ceased speaking, the applause was 
hearty and enthusiastic, and the last shade of doubt and 
distrust that seemed to have been lingering in the pub- 
lic mind as to the motives of his visit, appeared to have 
vanished. The banquet over, the party again re. 
tui'ned to the ball-room, and the dancing re-commenced. 
The German merchants of Colima mingled with the 
dark-eyed beauties of the country, side by side with the 
American guests, and an era of good feeling and broth- 
erly regard seemed to have been inaugurated. At 4 a. 
M., a grand "fandango," by dancers and musicians spe- 
cially sent for, was given. The dance is not unlike the 
can-can in its voluptuous abandon, and though curious, 
I do not recommend its adoption by the sons and 
daughters of my native land. At day-break the first 
grand party given in Mexico in honor of the distin- 
guished American visitor broke up. It was a magnifi- 
cent success. 

On the following morning, at 7 o'clock, a few fi'iends. 
and myself^^ — kindly accompanied by W. H. Broadbent 
and Mr. John Bulkley, late Superintendent of the San 
Cuyatano Cotton Mills — started off on horses sent for 
our use by Senor Luis Rendon and Consul Morrill, to 
visit the cotton mills of Colima. A two mile ride 
through the narrow, straight streets of Colima, and out 
along the woods overhung with the garden verdure of 
this land of fi-uit and flowers, along the banks of the 
Rio de Colima, brought us to the San Cuyatano mill. 
This establishment, like everything here, surrounds a 



64 VISIT TO THE COTTON FACTOEIES. 

wide court-yard, eacli building being but one story in 
heiglit, of brick, and tile-roofed. The motive poAver is 
furnished by a huge overshot wheel, forty-two feet in di- 
ameter, which runs two thousand spindles, and the mill 
employs two hundred and fifty men and women when in 
operation. 

It is now idle, owing to the overstock of domestic 
cottons, and the high price of the raw material. It has 
laige quarters, consisting of long rows of tenements, 
each with a front and rear room, and a verandah and 
small back yard, which, when the mills are running, are 
rented to the families of the operatives at one dollar 
and fifty cents per month ; not a high rent. The women, 
all young and clean, and some quite pretty, were sitting 
around in the verandahs doing some small work, and on 
our 23assing, all arose and greeted us with a pleasant 
smile, and " Buenas dias, Senors !" 

We went on to the Armonia Mill, which is of similar 
character, and now running. It has one thousand spin- 
dles, and employs eighty operatives. Then Ave Avent to 
the Atrevida Mill, which has twenty-five looms and 
eight hundred spindles, and emj)loys eighty people. 
The machinery of the Atrevida and San Cuyatano is 
from Fall Eiver — " Estados Unidos Del Norte " — and 
that of the Armonia from England. The Armonia was 
built in 1845, and paid from thirty thousand to forty 
thousand dollars per annum dividends mitil 1864, ivhen 
the business fell off in consequence of the cIa^I war. 
The cloth is all of coarse sheetings or muslin, known 
here as manta^ and sells at six dollars and twenty-five 
cents per piece of thirty-two varas (a vara is two and 
three-fourths feet, English) for the best, Avhich Aveighs 
eleven pounds per piece. The second quality, weighing 



THE RAVAGES OF WAR. 65 

nine pounds, sells for five dollars and twenty-five cents 
per piece. Tlie women get two and one-half rials — 
thirty-one and one-fourth cents — per piece for weaving 
the cloth, and the other operatives thirty-seven and 
a half cents per day, they boarding themselves. The 
cotton costs thirty-four cents per pound cleaned, at pres- 
ent, and two dollars and twenty-five cents per o/rroha 
of twenty-five pounds unginned. 

The present cotton product of the State of Colima is 
two million, five hundred thousand pounds, and there 
are many thousands of acres of uncultivated land avail- 
able for cotton raising if required. The women work 
faithfully and quietly, but with downcast and generally 
hopeless look. They are of all colors from red to white, 
a mild lemon color being the leading and fashionable 
hue. I have been told that a number of these girls re- 
cently went to California to better their condition, and 
that their letters from San Francisco, to their friends in 
Colima, have created a general desire among theii' sister 
operatives to follow in their footsteps, and seek a home 
in the Golden State. 

From the roofs of the mills we looked down on gar- 
dens filled with tropical fruits, oranges, bananas, cocoa- 
nuts, coffee, vanilla, and a thousand, to us, rare things, 
growing in rank and neglected luxuriance, then mounted 
our animals, and galloped back along ruined bridges 
and shattered walls, in j^art the effect of the cannon-balls 
rained upon Miramon's forces by the Liberal artillery 
under Col. George M. Green, when Juarez was advanc- 
ing on Guadalajara from the West ; in part to the con- 
test between the French and Liberals, when the latter 
were defeated and the city taken, and in part the effect 
of a great flood in 1864, and were soon at the door of 

SeSor Huarte's hospitable casa. ♦ 

5 



66 THE PUBLIC SCKOOLS OP COLIMA. 

At the invitation of Gov. Cueva, wlio is acting Gov- 
ernor in place of Gov. Eamon de la Vega, tlie latter 
having been absent for a long time on leave from Pres- 
ident Juarez, I visited the public schools in Colima, in 
which he takes a very commendable interest. I found 
them well attended, and the pupils exceedingly well-be- 
haved and intelligent. The schools are free to all, and 
seem to be appreciated. This is an evidence of actual 
progress in Mexico, very pleasant to witness, and must 
convince the most skeptical that the world does move, 
even here. 

From the schools we went to the State Prison, the 
Prefect of the State or municipality, Don Sebastian 
Fajerdo, kindly accompanying us and showing us all 
the points of interest. The prison is guarded by the 
garrison of Colima, comprising one hundred regular 
troops, and is used in part as a jail or calaboose, as well 
as a State Prison. It is of great age, and exceedingly 
defective in construction, so far as ventilation is con- 
cerned. Each ward is separated by an open-work iron 
door, of great strength, from the next, and one is locked 
before the second is unlocked on every occasion. I 
found one hundred and fifty- seven prisoners all told. 
Of these, half were common drunkards, or perpetrators 
of light offenses, sentenced to chain-gang duty for a brief 
time. Many of the others have the word ^''perpetua " 
entered opposite their names ; and one poor, cowering 
wretch in irons, was pointed out as under sentence of 
death for a horrible and cruel murder. Gov. Cueva, 
who seems to be a thoroughly mild, kind-hearted, and 
merciful man, explained to me that he had not yet signed 
the death-warrant, and he disliked to do so always, put- 
ting it off as long as possible, and then ordering the 



THE STATE PEISON AND PRISONERS. 67 

shooting to take place at day-break as quietly and pri- 
vately as possible, it being his opinion that such exhibi- 
tions had no good effect on the public mind. 

After a conviction for a capital offense, the transcript 
of the records of the trial, evidence, etc., must be sent 
to Mexico to be reviewed by the Supreme Court. If 
that tribunal decides that the trial has been fair, and 
the finding is according to law and the evidence, then 
an order for the execution of the sentence is sent back, 
the Governor must sign the death-warrant within a 
given number of days, and the shooting must take 
place within twenty-four hours thereafter. 

Pardons can only be issued by the Legislature (Con- 
gresso) of the State. The records appeared regularly 
and neatly kept, and the prisoners as well and humanely 
treated as possible with the present prison accommoda- 
tions. Each prisoner had a mat to sleep and sit upon, 
but other furniture there was none, and in some of the 
wards the air, for the want of proper ventilation, was 
very oppressive. All were naked to the waist, or 
nearly all, and with the single exception of one demor- 
alized Swiss — probably one of Maximilian's mercena- 
ries — in for stealing, of native birth and Indian blood. 
The precautions against revolt or escape would be con- 
sidered extraordinary in any other country. Nearly all 
are engaged in braiding fine palm-leaf hats, worth about 
two dollars each, or making fancy worsted work- 
baskets, etc., which they are allowed to have sold for^ 
their private account. As we entered each room the 
prisoners arose and bowed respectfully, at a nod fi-om 
the turnkey, and remained standing until we left. If 
Grov. Vega, or acting Gov. Cueva, had the means at eom-- 
mand, they would soon have a better prison erected,. 



68 CUEIOUS CHRISTENING CEREMONIES. 

and cliange tlie entire system to that of New- York, 
wliicli tliey liiglily approve. 

At 2 p. M., of our last day in Colima, tlie party re- 
paired to an old Spanish churcli to assist at the chris- 
tening of the two youngest children of Consul Morrill. 
Mr. Seward, the elder, acted with Mr. Buckley as god- 
fathers for one, and Mr. Fred Seward, wife, and Mr. 
Buckley, as godfathers and godmother for the other. 
The ceremony was soon over, and as we reached the 
portal, there came a rush of men, woman and children 
of the poorer class to receive bright, clean rials 
called " hohs,^'' as mementoes of the christening. The 
term comes from the response of the godfather during 
the ceremony " Yo bolo !" (I consent !) It is the custom 
for each of the godfathers and godmothers to give every 
person present a holo, and it took about a quart to go 
around. Then, at the residence of Senor Huarte, trays 
filled with these pieces — twelve and a-half cents each — 
punched and adorned with red, green and white rib- 
bons, were brought out, and were presented by the 
" Compadres," to each of the army of servants and 
children in the place. It is an odd and peculiar custom. 

Having been left out in the cold, as it were, personally 
at the christening, I got even by distributing some dol- 
lars worth of American dimes among the highly appre- 
ciative audience, on behalf of the next candidate for 
ordinance, whether it should be a girl or boy, Mr. 
Buckley kindly promising to act as my proxy at the 
ceremony, as a few thousand miles, more or less, would 
be pretty certain to intervene between us before that 
interesting event could take place. 

On the afternon of Wednesday the 13th of October 
Colonel Sabas Lomeli, commander of the State Guard 



FAREWELL TO COL.IMA. 69 

of Jalisco, a riclily dressed, and fine, soldierly-looking 
officer, witli one hundred cavalry, detailed by the Gov- 
ernor of Jalisco to act as an escort to Mr. Seward and 
party, as far as Guadalajara,arrived from that city, and 
immediately presented himself, with his aids, for orders. 
Colima, the beloved of the Sun, had won all our hearts, 
and it was with not a little regret, that we made prepa- 
rations for departure next morning, at day-break. Co- 
lima ! Colima ! shall I ever look upon you again? 



CHAPTER III. 

FEOM COLIMA TO ZAPOTLAK 

(~\^ the evening of Oct. IStli, we made our final prep- 
^^ arations for departing from Colima, and at 4 o'clock 
next morning all was bustle and excitement in tlie 
grand house of Sefior Huarte, and in tlie streets and 
Plaza in front. The long roll of the drum, and the 
shrill notes of the trumpet, announced the assembling 
of the military guard before day-break, and when the 
dawn came, the scene as viewed from the balcony was 
magnificent. The squadron of the Guard of Jalisco, 
one hundred strong, lined one side of the Plaza, with 
their horses saddled and caparisoned for the road. In 
fr-ont of our house, a long train of pack-mules was be- 
ing loaded for the journey by a swarm of servants ; 
two coaches, each with six mules, four in the lead and 
two at the wheel, stood ready for the party, and the 
police of Colima, finely mounted, with Senor Canedo, 
Don Luis Rendon, Gov. Cueva, our worthy Consul 
Dr. Augustus Morrill, and other ofiicials and private 
citizens, were galloping about on horseback, all hand- 
somely mounted, and each with servants, spare horses, 
and camp equipage, ready for the road. 

At last all was ready, the trumpets of the advance- 
guard sounded " to the saddle," and they filed away at 
a gallop down the streets. The crowd in front was 
forced back by the police, and Mr. Seward entered his 



PAINTUL SCEJ!fE AT THE CONSULATE. 71 

coach with the members of his party, the other coach 
was filled by our fi'iends, and the people bared their 
heads and bowed respectfully as a last salutation, 
as the coaches rattled away over the cobble-paved 
streets. 

The rear-guard and the long pack-train fell in behind, 
and the police and other officials and friends galloped 
alongside. Vamos ! ali-ha-lia-lia-lia-ha-li-a-a-a ! yelled the 
Goclieros ; the postilions cracked their whips, and so, 
with clatter and uproar, and strange music indescriba- 
ble, we dashed past the Plaza ISTuevo, with its tri- 
umphal arches, its orange groves and seats for summer- 
evening loungers, out through the long, straight, narrow 
streets, into the garden-lined roads of the suburbs, and 
Colima the Beautiful was behind us. 

In the last chapter, mention was made of a prisoner 
in irons in the State Prison awaiting death for a brutal 
murder. The order for his execution had been signed 
by Gov. Cueva on the day previous to oui' departure, 
and he was to be shot at day-break on that morning. 
While standing in Consul Morrill's office on the eve- 
ning before our departure, I heard a terrible outcry in 
the corridor, and saw the poor old mother of the con- 
demned criminal on her knees before the Consul, beg- 
ging him in the name of God and all the saints to inter- 
fere in her son's behalf "You represent the great 
JSstados TJnidos del Norte^ and are all-powerful. Save 
him. Sen or, and all the saints of heaven will bless you !" 
He told her as mildly as possible, that he had no power 
to interfere, and that the young man — a bad youth, who 
had committed murder before, and on this occasion 
butchered, in cold blood, a merchant's clerk, who had^ 
under orders from his employer, refused him credit for 



72 THE COimTEY AISTD PEOPLE. 

four dollars — deserved Ms fate. Tlien slie fell insensi 
ble to tiie pavement. 

When the sympathizing women had restored her to 
consciousness, she rushed to the house of Senor Huarte, 
and fell on her knees before one of our party, mistaking 
him for Mr. Seward. She was taken away by the po- 
lice before she could see him, and so he was saved the 
useless pain of meeting her. Gov. Cueva, being told that 
the prisoner was apparently insane, sent two physicians 
to examine him, but they reported him thoroughly 
sound in mind ; and as he had no power to pardon him, 
that being reserved to the State Legislature and the 
President, while a reprieve would be no mercy, he or- 
dered, as a mark of respect to Mr. Seward, that the 
execution be delayed until we were out of the city. 
Our coaches had hardly rolled off the last pavement of 
Colima, before there was a sharp rattle of musketry from 
the river's bank, a puff of blue smoke curled up above 
the house-tops, and drifted away in the clear morning 
air, and the story of a life was told. 

A few miles out of Colima the character of the coun- 
try begins to change from ultra-tropical to semi-tropical. 
We drove over execrable roads, between wide fields of 
rice, now half-grown and richly green, beautiful castor- 
beans, and Indian corn. The cocoa-palms decreased in 
number, and finally, at twenty miles north-east of Coli- 
ma, entirely disappeared, while the bananas grew less 
thriftily and abundant. The land, where not cultiva- 
ted, was everywhere covered with rich, nutritious 
grasses, and cattle and sheep abounded. We have no 
grass, properly speaking, in California, the wild oat out 
there taking its place, and these green, grassy fields ap- 
peared more beautiftil to me fi-om the fact that I had not 



GREAT BARRANCA DE BELTRAN. 73 

looked upon tlieir like for many years. Tke country is 
well populated, and though the people — mostly of In- 
dian descent — live in poor huts of cane, with rice straw- 
thatched roofs, open all around the sides to wind and 
rain, and are miserably clad, they appear to have abun- 
dance to eat, and are quite well behaved, and apparently 
contented with theii* lot. 

Twenty-five miles from Colima, we reached the first 
" Barranca," a branch of the great "Barranca de Beltran," 
the insurmountable obstacle to the construction of a 
passable wagon road from the coast to Guadalajara. 
These Barrancas, some five or six in number, three very 
large, are minor Yosemites in appearance, having been 
fonned by the action of water in a stratum of sand, 
bowlders, and loose gravel. They are many miles in 
length, uniting finally like the various branches of a 
great river as they approach the sea-coast, and are from 
five hundred to fifteen hundred feet in depth, with steep 
precipitous sides. 

The amount of labor required to construct even passa- 
ble mule roads up and down their sides, is almost in- 
credible. The road has been laid out — it was done a 
century ago — with great engineering skill, and the zig- 
zags, with acute angles, are beautifully constructed. 
The road-bed is from eight to thirty feet in width, the 
sides inclining to the center, and neatly paved with 
cobble-stones, the large and small stones being arranged 
in lines in regular order. Each year, the water cuts the 
bed of the Barranca deeper and deeper, and the woik 
must be extended, while the heavy rains gullying out 
the pavement, make constant repairs necessary. The 
lower side of the road is usually fenced in, or lined with 
a substantial stone wall neatly plastered, and in one of 



74 THE PALAI^QUUSr. 

the smaller Barrancas a solid stone bridge with a single 
arcli, evidently of great age, spans tlie stream. 

Senor Huarte had provided a large palanquin to con- 
vey Mr. Seward through the Barranca country, as his 
injuries, received some years ago, rendered it impossible 
for him to guide a horse, or hold on to a saddle for a 
long time. The palanquin, or litter, consisted of two 
stout poles, three feet apart, bolted together with cross 
beams, suj)porting in the center a platform on which 
was fastened a large, cushioned arm-chair, above which 
was a canopy of brilliant green merino stuff with cur- 
tains of the same material. When going up and down 
the Barrancas, and in particularly dangerous places, the 
palanquin was borne on the shoulders of four stalwart 
men in white cotton pantaloons, and broad plam-leaf hats, 
with rough sandals on their feet. "When the procession 
came to a good place on the road, the palanquin was 
transferred to the backs of two mules, who carried it 
along at a swinging trot. The men were relieved at 
intervals of a few minutes, and despite the heat and 
bad roads, they would get along nearly as fast as a man 
on horseback, riding at an ordinary gait. 

At the first Barranca we left Senor Huarte's excellent 
coaches, and took to mule and horseback. Descending 
the first Barranca and climbing its precipitous sides 
again, we crossed a small plateau, and came to the first 
arm of the great Barranca de Beltran, probably eight 
hundred feet deep. Looking u|) this Barranca we saw, 
on the opposite side, the old red-tile-roofed town of 
Tornila, embowered in tropical foliage and flowers, with 
banana fields and trees, each bearing a profusion of bril- 
liant flowers, on either side, and the great Volcano of 
Colima towering into the heavens in awful majesty, his 



MAGNIFICENT SCENERY. 75 

liead crowned witli a turban of sulphurous smoke, in 
tlie background. Surely, I mused, I must have been 
liere before, tbe scene is so wonderfully familiar. 

At last it occurred to me, this is the perfect counter- 
part of " the Heai-t of the Andes," as Church painted it. 
Even the trees covered with parrots, and the rushing 
waters, were all there. On that day, and again the next 
day, we saw the picture repeated in a thousand varied 
forms, and each more beautiful and wonderful than the 
last. 

At noon, we reached Tornila, and were warmly re- 
ceived at the hospitable residence of Senor Don Ramon 
de la Vega, the elected Grovernor of Colima. Tornila 
is just over the line, in the State of Jalisco, and Senor 
Vega is residing there by permission of President 
Juarez, while Gov. Cueva acts in his place. He was 
driven out by the French, and was compelled to flee to 
San Francisco, but immediately returned on the restor- 
ation of the republic. He has served several years, and 
will decline another re-election, as he is old, and desii-es 
to devote himself to his private affaii's. His mansion 
overlooks on one side, a broad and beautifully iiTegular 
valley, with ranges of low hills, and the Sierra del 
Tigre, rising to the clouds in the southern background. 
Nearer, are gardens filled with fruits and flowers in end- 
less profusion. 

From the northern front of Gov. Vega's residence a 
magnificent view of the great Volcano of Colima may 
be obtained. The western peak of this great mountain 
is a perfect truncated cone, very beautiful, and majestic 
in propoi-tions. It is estimated to be from twelve thou- 
sand to fourteen thousand feet above the sea — no two 
estimates agree by hundreds of feet — and is wooded 



76 THE VOLCANO OF COLIMA. 

to tlie very summit. This peak, tliougli formerly in 
eruption, had been silent for forty years. Now, we can 
see small jets of smoke or steam issuing from crevices 
near the summit, but in no considerable quantity, and 
there is no rumbling or other indications of an erup- 
tion. Back of this first peak to the eastward some 
miles, is a second peak, called the Snowy (Nevada) 
Peak, or Old Crater. This is now wholly silent. 

Between these, but fui*ther to the northward than 
either, and lower down, is the crater formed in August, 
1869, from which the smoke now pours in dense vol- 
ume, but not a sound of any kind nor any trembling 
accompanies the eruption. In fact, this whole affair is 
an unexplainable mystery. The former eruptions sent 
forth immense rivers of lava, and were accompanied by 
frightful earthquakes and rumblings. This, commenced 
in the night, with a shock so slight that it was hardly 
noticed in the City of Colima, and continued in the 
same manner fi-om the 12th of July 1869 up to the time 
of our visit. No lava is poured out, but there is a con- 
stant discharge of red-hot rocks, some of which weigh 
hundreds of tons, which are merely vomited out and 
rolled down the side of the mountain : not hurled into 
the air. 

The engineer who was sent up to examine it, made a 
full report, and through the kindness of Gov. Cueva, 
I was famished with a copy. I am inclined to the 
opinion that the present demonstration is only prelim- 
inary, and that the actual eruption, attended with lava 
discharges and wide-spread devastation, is yet to come. 
At present, the Volcano of Colima is the best-behaved 
volcano in the world — mild-mannered, but wonderfully 
beautiful and awe-inspiring to the beholder. 



DINNER AT TORNILA. 77 

The dinner-table was sj^read in the corridor overlook- 
ing all the scene, and the party sat down to a sump- 
tuous entertainment prej)ared on the shortest notice. 
S€fior Huarte had pi-ovided an unlimited supply of 
wines and liquors of every descrij^tion, and poured 
them out like water all the way to Zapotlan, to which 
place he accompanied us. He is a perfect prince of 
hosts, and his kindness and unceasing care for the com- 
fort of oui' party will not soon be forgotten. These 
Mexican people " beat the world " in the number and 
excellence of the dishes they prepare for the table at 
short notice. Chicken, turkey, and beef may be had at 
every little hamlet in abundance, and they serve them 
up in a variety of styles, always well-cooked and pala. 
table. They also contrive to produce dulces — liter, 
ally " sweets " — from almost every conceivable fi'uit and 
vegetable, and also pastes and jams in endless variety. 
On this occasion the dulces were prepared by the hand 
of Senora de la Vega herself. Their three bright-eyed 
daughters, handsome young ladies, with light olive 
complexions, their cheeks tinged with a rosy hue, sat at 
the table with the party. 

When the dinner was dispatched and wines brought 
on. Gov. Cueva arose, and in feeling terms thanked Mr. 
Seward for his visit, and for the good services he had 
rendered to Mexico. On behalf of the State of Colima 
he desired to bid him good-bye, wish him God-speed, 
and a safe return to his home in the far North, and give 
him a hearty embrace. The Governor then embraced 
him with great fervor, bade each of the party an affec- 
tionate adieu, and started on his return to Colima. 

The rainy season in this country commences in June, 
and according to the almanac, ought to conclude in Sep- 



78 THE FOOT-HILLS OF THE SIEREA MADRE. 

tember, but this year it did not. It was now tlie mid- 
dle of October, and still the clouds poured down 
showers every evening and during most of the night 
making traveling, which ought to have been better than 
at any other season, almost impossible and slow at best. 
It was raining when we left Tornila, and we hardly 
saw the sun that day. The country from Colima to 
Zapotlan is quite populous, and in the middle part nearly 
all the arable land is cultivated. 

The road is very wide, but poor, and inclosed be- 
tween very high and substantial stone walls. The 
crops are corn, beans, pumpkins, rice, sugar-cane, <fec., 
<fec., and all are very good. From Tornila we ascended 
rapidly, and were soon among the foot-hills of the 
Sierra Madre of Mexico. The country is not unlike 
Central Arizona in formation, but the vegetation is 
rank and luxuriant to a degree beyond comparison. 
At all the houses along the road there are little open 
windows, in which are exposed for sale fruit and bread 
cakes, tortillas and cheese. For a medio — half a rial^ 
or six and one-fourth cents — you can buy a milk-pan 
full of bananas or other fruit, and bread, etc., is very 
cheap. 

Women, lightly dressed in loose cotton camesas and 
skirts, are seen in every house, squatted before the hol- 
lowed block of lava, on which they grind to a paste 
the half-boiled hulled corn, from which they make tor- 
tillas. Placing a handful of the corn on the stone, they 
take hold, with both hands, of a stone about a foot in 
length and three inches square, which they rub back 
and forth over the corn until it is reduced to a pulp, 
then taking up a little mass, pat it with both hands 



TORTILLA MAKERS. 



79 



until they have spread it out to the thickness of com- 
mon paste-board, and bake it on a hot stone. This is 
the tortilla, which with the dark red beans known as 
frijoles, form the leading articles of diet of the humbler 
class. The tortilla 
Is also used as a 
spoon, when they 
eat beans or soup, 
and the spoon is 
eaten up at the close 
of the feast. 

Our military 
guard was an object 
of no little cui'iosity 
and admiration 
They belong to a 
force of eight hun- 
dred picked men, 
armed, equipped, 
and put into the field 
by the State of Jalis- 
co, to free the roads 
from robbers and maintain public order. Col. Sabas Lo- 
meli, their commander, is a splendid-looking man, tall 
stout built, quite fail- complexioned, with long whiskers 
and mustaches, a la Americano, and is not only remarka- 
bly good looking, but has the air and carriage of a soldier. 
He is said to be a very brave and accomplished officer 
and the fact that within a few months his command has 
practically cleared the roads of the great State of Ja- 
lisco of robbers, and captured or killed nearly two hun- 
dred of the banditti, who had made travelino* very dan- 
gerous, speaks well for his energy. He is accompanied 




A MEXICAN COOK. 



80 



OUR MILITARY ESCORT. 



by a major, captain, and the company lieutenants, all of 
whom are uniformed with dark-blue jackets, trimmed 
with broad silver bull- 
ion and large silver 
buttons, bright scarlet 
pantaloons, with silver 
lace, and top-boots of 
enameled leather. 
Their caps are nearly 
the same in form as the 
United States 
cap, but with 
green trimmings, and 
with a white linen 
cover having a cape, 
which when let down, 
protects the shoulders 
from sun and rain. 
The soldiers have 



regular 
fatigue 




COL. SABAS LOMELI. 



caps, blue coats and 
pantaloons with green trimmings, and the pantaloons 
are foxed with dark leather. They carry swords, Colt's 
revolvers, and Springfield muskets, and are mounted on 
small, but very spirited and quick-traveling horses, of 
which they take excellent care. The ofiicers carry 
swords and Colt's revolvers, and wear broad, red sashes 
thrown carelessly over their shoulders. Their uniform 
is very brilliant and picturesque. The force of one 
hundred men have only three pack-mules to carry all 
their baggage. They take no tents or cooking utensils, 
and can get over the ground with twice or thrice the 
speed attained by our troops in the United States. 
One hundred miles within thirty hours is no great 



THE GUARD OF JALISCO ON THE MARCH. 81 

marcli for tliem, and the infantry can keep np with 
them. The common soldiers are all of Indian blood, 
small in size, but active, and admirably fitted for rapid 
marches and the guerilla style of warfare. I never 
saw so well-behaved, quiet, and orderly men. They 
receive thirty-seven and one-half cents per day in coin. 
Of this twelve and one-half cents is paid them daily, 
and the remainder at, or near, the end of the month. 
They get no rations, but live easily on the twelve and 
one-half cents. They will gallop uj) to a road-side 
shop, and with three cents purchase a dozen tortillas^ 
and a piece of the sour-milk cheese of the country, 
which serves them for lunch. For breakfast, an ear of 
soft-boiled corn will serve them admirably, and for sup- 
per a few frijoJes and tortillas are sufficient. In camp 
or at garrison duty, they get rations, and are charged 
for them. Col. Lomeli wears a magnificent diamond 
ring and gold watch, and is splendidly mounted, a 
silver-ornamented saddle setting off to great advantage 
the fine black horse which he rides. 

Leaving the party just before night-fall, I galloped 
on alone to the great hacienda of San Marcos, .where 
we were to pass the night, meeting by the way the pro- 
prietor who had started out to meet Mr. Seward and 
welcome him to his house. 

This great hacienda cost a million dollars, and for 
many years prior to the French invasion paid $60,000 
net profits annually. The war ruined its old proprie- 
tor, and its 2:»resent one bought it for $200,000. The 
buildings surround a large square, in the center of 
which there is a fountain constantly playing, to which 
all the workmen and women resort for water. On one 

side of the square are the workshops where the casks, 
6 






82 nACIENDA DE SAN MAECOS. 

boxes, etc., are made. On the opposite, is the immense 
sugar-mill, with splendid machinery of the best pattern. 
At the entrance, on one side, is the office and counting- 
room ; on the other, the pyre or altar-like pile of ma- 
son-work, on which a fire is kindled with pitch-pine 
wood at night, to light up the entire place. At the op- 
posite end is the extensive distillery in which the cane, 
(after the greater part of the juice has been expressed,) 
is permeated with the molasses, to make a villainous 
kind of rum called aguardiente del cana^ which is as 
much like boiled lightning as can be imagined, and the 
very smell of which will cause a very fair sample of the 
Christian gentleman to commit murder. Above this, 
rises a small hill of solid rock about seventy feet in 
height, surmounted by the casa grande^ or great house 
of the estate. This house is one story in height, with 
a vast corridor all around it, and a hollow square in the 
center. It is painted white outside, and inside it is like 
all the better houses in this country, elaborately fres- 
coed in blue and chocolate colors. 

The view, from the corridor, of the great volcano — 
the base of which is but ten miles distant — and of the 
Sierra Madre in the east, the Sierra del Tigre, and inter- 
vening plains on the other side, is wonderfully beau- 
tiful. The business of the hacienda is now but mod- 
erately profitable, since the fine, almost pure, and richly 
flavored sugar is worth but two dollars and fifty cents 
per arroba of twenty-five pounds, and the aguardiente 
only realizes three dollars per barrel of eighteen gal- 
lons, after being packed on mules to Zapotlan and Guad- 
_alajara, the barrel itself being returned. 

Night came on while I was sitting on the broad veran- 
dah waiting for the arrival of the party, and drinking in 



WILD NIGHT SCENE. 83 

the glory of tlie scene before me. The darkness was 
almost palpable to the touch, and I began to fear that 
the party must encamp on the mountains for the night. 
Suddenly, the notes of the bugle came floating through 
the air, and a long line of brilliant lights, moving with 
a steady motion which showed that they were carried 
by marching men, came out upon the hill-side some 
miles away. 

Like a great fiery serpent the column, with its hun- 
dred torches unfolded itself, and crept steadily toward 
the hacienda. On it came, winding and turning with 
the sinuosities of the road, until I could discern the 
outlines of the horsemen who bore the flaming torches, 
and see the great-leaved trees come in and out of the 
panorama of ever- shifting lights and shadows, as the 
column moved along. It was a scene of enchantment 
which seems too much like the work of imagination to 
be real, even now, as I look back upon it through mem- 
ory's gateway. 

At last the procession entered the patio, and all was 
bustle and confusion for an hour or more before the 
troops were finally quartered for the night, the baggage 
disposed of, and the party quietly provided for in the 
various rooms of the gi'eat house. The family of the 
proprietor, Mauricio Gomez, reside most of the time at 
Zapotlan, and were not at the hacienda when we were 
there. We supped royally, slept soundly — there are> 
no musquitoes, and very few flies in all this country — ■ 
and at 6 a. m., on the 15th were off for Zapotlan, our 
road leading for miles between the rice-fields, sugar-cane 
and corn-fields which covered the whole country. 

Soon after leaving San Marcos we came to the main 
branch of the great Barranca de Beltran, which is about 



84 



BEAUTIFUL VIEWS. 



two tliousand feet wide and fifteen linndred feet deep, 
witli almost perpendicular sides, doAvn wliicli tlie road 
has been cut with infinite labor and paved at an im- 
mense e X- 
p e n s e . 
The de- 
scent into 
t hi s B a r- 
ranca o n 
horseba c k 
is no tri- 
fling feat, 
and the 
beauty of 
the views 
at e V ery 
turn is 
really 
wonder- 
ful. At 




BARRANCA DE BELTRAN. 



places, the 
whole road is over-arched mth trees and climbing vines, 
and on every hill-side the wealth of flowers is beyond im- 
agination. Parrots in great flocks yelled at us fi'om the 
trees, and little parroquets and other brilliant-hued 
birds, swarmed in the thickets all around. Mules, 
loaded with the produce of the country, met us at every 
angle of the road. 

The scene, as the procession wound down the defiles 
into the bed of the Barranca and up the other side, the 
green palanquin swaying back and forth at the head, 
the brilliant uniforms of the officers and soldiers of the 
guard coming in and out among the trees in vivid con- 



GENERAL AKTEAGA. HISTORIC GROUND. 85 

trast to the deep green of tlie vegetation, and the scarlet 
and blue and orange of the flowers, the sabres and 
muskets flashing in the sun, with the hundred minor but 
still picturesque details of the march was one, once 
witnessed, not soon to be forgotten. 

It was high noon when we reached the Jlesa on the 
eastern side, and crossed over to the Barranca Atenqui- 
qui, beyond w^hich we exj^ected to meet the stages ft'om 
Zapotlan. Looking back, I noticed two projections or 
points between divided branches of the Barranca ; these 
might serve for points on which to erect piers for a sus- 
pension bridge, which might be constructed so that each 
span would not exceed eight hundred feet in length. 
On the highest 23oint, Gen. Arteaga, at the commence- 
ment of the French invasion, erected earth-works de- 
fended by artillery, but finding his troops, who were 
poorly armed and thoroughly demoralized, could not 
hold the position, he j^itched his cannon down the Bar- 
ranca, and retreated to the interior. He was subse- 
quently taken by surj)rise, and mui^dered in cold blood 
by the French, under the orders of Maximilian. Gren. 
Arteaga's remains, with those of Gen. Salazar, who met 
a like fate, have recently been removed to the Pantheon, 
at the city of Mexico, and interred in great state. 

Take the Yosemite Valley, diminished in depth one- 
half and narrowed in like manner, cover all its sides 
and bottom with the luxui'iant vegetation of the trop- 
ics, and you have the great Barranca de Beltran as we 
looked back into it for the last time. 

At 1 o'clock p. M., we paused for a rest in the last of 
the Barrancas, that of Atenquiqui, in which the forces 
of Miramon were bush- whacked and completely routed, 
with almost total loss, by the Liberals under Gen. 



86 AN INDIAN EUNNER. 

Cheeseman, immediately commanded by Col. Geo. M. 
Green, if I remember correctly, toward the close of tlie 
war. 

The stages were not forth-coming, and people who 
came over the road told us that it was impassable for 
vehicles for the greater part of the way from Zapotlan 
to the Barranca owing to the damage done by the re- 
cent storm. 

An Indian messenger was sent off, on foot, with a 
promise that if he returned before 4 p. m., with news 
of the stage-coach, he should have two dollars. It was 
then 2 p. m., and we laid down to rest. At five minutes 
before 4 p. m., the barefooted messenger returned with 
the news that the coach would meet us nine miles down 
the road, at a point where a great gully had made it 
impossible to get the vehicle farther. He had made 
eighteen miles at a run, within the two hours, as was 
subsequently demonstrated, and well earned his two 
dollars. 

"We mounted at once and pushed on, Mr. Seward on 
a mule led by a half-naked native and holding on by 
both hands, and met at last the fine, large stage, made 
by the American pattern in Mexico, sent out from Za- 
potlan for our accommodation. Here, we were near 
the summit of the pass through the Sierra Madre, and 
the country looked not unlike the foot-hills of the Sierra 
Nevada about Grass Valley and Colfax, in California. 
The chaparral had mostly disappeared, and the coun- 
try was sparsely covered with stumpy, yellow pines, 
with long leaves hanging down, so as to give them a 
weeping- willow aspect. The air at this elevation was 
quite comfortably cool, and we discarded the thin ap- 
parel in which we haS. sweltered in the Terra Caliente, 



TEANSPORTATION TEAXNS. 



87 



whicli we were now passing out of, and put on such as 
is worn in San Francisco. 

At every turn on the road we met trains of pack- 
mules laden with the produce of the country, going 
down to the coast, or were, for hours, mixed up with 
similar trains going up from the coast to the interior. 




INDIANS FROM MICHOACAN GOING UP TO GUADALAJABA. 

The down trains were loaded with the hard soap of 
Zapotlan, coarse earthen ware, fruit, sugar, etc., but 
principally, soap. The up trains were loaded with 
sugar, rice, and aguardiente^ of which there seemed to 
he no end. One train must have numbered at least 
two hundred and fifty mules, each loaded with two 
barrels of the accursed aguardiente, eighteen or twenty 
gallons in each cask. The poor little mules were ut- 
terly exhausted with climbing and descending the bar- 
rancas, and were dropping down at intervals of a few 
rods all along the road. It is estimated that not less 



88 ZAPOTLAN AN ANCIENT CITY. 

than twenty thousand mules are constantly employed 
transporting goods over the road between Colima and 
Guadalajara and intermediate points, and as each car- 
ries at least two hundred and fifty or three hundred 
pounds, the aggregate amount must be enormous. 
Many of the smaller trains which we met were loaded 
with coarse rush matting, used for covering floors, or 
earthern jars, and were driven by Indian families, men, 
women, and children, on foot, who appeared to be do- 
ing business on their own account. In many cases a 
mule would have goods worth not more than three dol- 
lars on his back, and the family must be poor indeed 
to go so far for so little money. We must have met or 
passed at least fifteen hundred or two thousand mules 
during the day. 

We passed also several Mexican families of the bet- 
ter class, traveling on horseback and attended by nu- 
merous servants, all well armed. The women, inva- 
riably, had theii' heads covered with rehosas^ or large 
handkerchiefs under their broad-brimmed hats, hiding 
all their hair and most of their faces, so fearful do they 
seem to be of any exposure to the air when traveling, 
though when at home, they go, bare headed, in the hot- 
test sun, or coldest breeze to church, theater or prom- 
enade, all the year around. 

Passing at a distance the magnificent hacienda of 
Huescalapa, which appeared like an immense white 
palace, we saw soon after night-fall, the long rows of 
paper lanterns which adorned every house, and were 
strung across every street in Zapotlan, giving to the 
tumble-down old city an air of enchantment. The 
illumination was in honor of the feast of San Jose of 
which saint this was the anniversary. 



"going the whole hog. 89 

Driving up to tlie door of the residence of Don Trin- 
idad Viszcayno, we aliglited, and were soon provided 
for, for tlie uiglit. The City Council of Zapotlan called 
immediately to pay tlieir respects, and a band com- 
menced playing in front of the house. The crowd was 
dense, but well-behaved and resj^ectful, and during our 
stay, nothing but kind treatment was experienced. 
Among those who paid us most attention was Senor 
Don Manuel F. Alatorreof Guadalajara, cousin of Gen. 
Alatorre, a popular republican commander, then in the 
City of Mexico. 

Zapotlan contains from eighteen thousand to twenty 
thousand people. There are more Indians in j^ropor- 
tion to the whole poj^ulation than at Colima, and fewer 
well-dressed people on the streets. This is one of the 
oldest cities in America, and is situated in one of the 
richest regions of Mexico ; but, two hundred and fifty 
years' experience have only brought the people up to 
manufacturing soap and sugar. There are ten or 
t^velve large soap factories in Zaj^otlan, and the trade 
is enormous. One of them w^e visited. There are no 
iron kettles or utensils in it, and all the heating" is done 
in vats made of brick, while the ladling is done with 
immense calabashes fastened to long poles. And yet, 
the work is well done, and the soa]3 much superior to 
the common brown soap in general use in the United 
States. The alkali is obtained from soda-earth in im- 
mense quantities on the margin of a lake ten leagues 
from Zapotlan, and the hogs are thrown into the vats 
whole, bristles and all, as we had an opportunity to 
see. This is emphatically "going the whole hog." In 
some parts of Mexico cakes of soap are used as small 
change, and hence the expression so common in the 



90 



A MEXICAN WEDDING PARTY. 



United States, " How are you off for soap ?" I cliarge 
notliing extra for this explanation. 

The town is full of churches of ancient date, and 
there are the ruins of an immense cathedral which was 
thrown down in 1806, when many people were killed. 
They are just erecting a new one, from lava taken from 
a field of great extent near the town, and which flowed 
from the great volcano centuries ago. It will probably 
be finished in another century. 

Above the door of one of the churches, we noticed 
an inscription, announcing that there were thirteen sta- 
tions in the church at which one could deposit money, 
and have any friend 
he might name, prayed 
out of purgatory, or 
helped along on his 



way. Willing to lend 
a helping hand, I de- 
posited twenty-five 
cents on behalf of a 
friend in San Francis- 
co. I forgot to men- 
tion,,the fact that he 
is not yet dead, but 
presume that will 
make no difference, 
as he is sure to need 
it sooner or later, and 
the longer he waits 
the greater call he 
will have for all the assistance his friends can give him. 
While at Zapotlan we saw a wedding party enter 
the church. Bride and bridegroom were of pure Mex- 




BRIDE AND GKOOM ENTERING THE CHURCH. 



ANECDOTE OF GENERAL KOJAS. 91 

ican blood, the common peoj^le of tlie country, and the 
whole i^arty were of the same class. The costumes of 
the bride and bridegroom, and their floral decorations, 
were of such a remarkable character, that nothing but 
the engraving can give a good idea of them. 

The city, though dull, is growing and slowly improv- 
ing. It contains a number of beautiful residences, and 
about twelve first-class families. 

When the infamous robber and patriotic cut-throat 
"General Rojas" took Zapotlan on one occasion, his 
men reported that the bell-tower of one of the churches 
was full of the enemy, who had surrendered, and were 
ready to come down and deliver up their arms. " What 
shall we do with them, your Excellency?" Rojas con- 
sidered a moment, and then replied, " Oh, these poor 
men are not to blame ; they must not be killed, but sent 
home, as they only acted under orders." His men 
could not understand such unusual clemency, as it was 
his custom to kill all who, by any misfortune fell into 
his hands. Seeing the officer who had made the inquiry 
standing irresolute, as if in doubt of understanding 
correctly what Rojas had said, the latter added, "I say 
sent home; of course you will not take any eiirtra 
trouble with them, but send them home by the shortest 
road. The officer understood the infernal monster's hint, 
and returning to his command, gave such orders that in 
a few moments a well-directed fire from below forced 
all the soldiers in the tower to jump to the street, and 
of course they perished to a man. This anecdote was 
related to me by a gentleman who kneAV Rojas well, 
and belonged to the political party with which he was 
acting at the time. As we advanced into the interior 
we heard many similar anecdotes of this atrocious 



92 A MONOPOLY OF CEIME. 

criminal. It is a satisfaction to know tliat tlie brute 
got Lis deserts, and was killed like a wild beast at Sey- 
Ilia, at last. 

Rojas came from the district of Tepic, where lie was 
employed for many years by one foreign importing 
liouse, to oppose by fraud, violence, and blood-slied, 
Manuel Lozada, wlio was in the pay of a rival house. 
Lozada finally triumphed, and has for years carried on 
a sort of independent monarchy, with Tepic for its capi- 
tal, in the Northern corner of the State of Jalisco. He 
styles himself " Manuel Lozada, Natural Chief of the 
district of Tepic," permitting no one to share the cares and 
resj)onsibilities of ofiice with him. San Bias serves as 
an importing or smuggling port for his kingdom, and as 
he has a monntain district which is impenetrable to an 
opposing force if defended at all, his army, of devoted 
followers like those of Lopez in Paraguay, which can 
be swelled to eight thousand or ten thousand in a few 
days, enables him to bid defiance to the Federal Gov- 
ernment, and carry things all in his own way. He was 
originally a muleteer, and is too ignorant to write his 
own name, but has much capacity for governing, Avith 
an energetic, cruel, and unforgiving nature. Skinning 
the feet of his enemies and forcing them to walk over 
live coals, is one of the mildest of the practical jokes 
in which he sometimes indulges. To do him justice, 
he keeps excellent order in the district of Tepic, allowing 
no one else to murder or rob within his jurisdiction. 
The republic has been forced to tolerate him for many 
years, because unable at any time to send a sufiicient 
force against him to crush him at a blow. Should a 
period of entire peace in all other parts of the Repub- 
lic come within his time, the Government would make 



HOW LOCAL REVOLUTIOTTS ARE MANAGED. 93 

short work of him at any cost ; but how soon such an 
oj^portunity may occur, is a question for unreliable 
speculation only. 

In 1868-9, an expedition against him, to be under 
the command of General Ramon Corona, was planned 
and nearly ready to start, but ne^^er got marching or- 
ders, disturbances requiring the presence of the troops 
arising elsewhere. 

It is a noticeable fact, that nearly all the local revolu- 
tions or 'proiminciamentos in Mexico, — especially in the 
states borderino; on the sea-coast — are fomented and sus- 
tained for the moment by foreign houses, who desire to 
profit, pecuniarily, by the misfortunes of the country 
and its inhabitants. When several cargoes of goods 
from Europe, on which duties ranging fi-om fifty 
to one hundred and fifty per cent ad valorum are paya- 
ble by law, are about due at some port, the parties in in- 
terest look up some ambitious chief, who will consent 
to be used by them, provide him with the means to 
raise the first body of troops at hand in 2^ i:)Vonuncia- 
mento. He then seizes the Custom-House, and if pos- 
sible, the nearest mint, lets in the cargoes for twenty 
or twenty -five per cent, of the legal duties, and le vies 
a forced loan or two, on the merchants within his reach. 
Of course, he takes good care to give receipts for the 
amount of the jprestbno due from the houses in whose 
interest he is acting. By the time the Government 
troops arrive to attack him, he is ready to decamp with 
what funds he has raised, and seek an asylum in the 
United States, or some other country. The legitimate 
Government authorities, on being restored to power, 
find it always difficult, and generally impossible, to col- 
lect the duties on the goods which have thus been 



94 THE YICTI3IS OF THE PRONUNCIADOS. 

smuggled into the country, and so the Republic is not 
only swindled out of hundreds of thousands of dollars 
in the time of its most urgent necessity generally, but 
is put to a heavy expense to suppress the rebellion. 
The only parties who profit by the i^rominciainento are 
those who get up the scheme and the leader of the 
forces in rebellion. The men forced into the army of 
ihe pronunciados, and the regular troops of the Repub- 
lic, are the victims who meet death every time these 
outbreaks occur. This game has been played over 
and over, year after year, at the expense of every 
administration, legitimate or otherwise, which has held 
power at the time. It is not to be wondered at that 
the rich grow richer, and the poor poorer, year by year, 
under such a state of things, and that legitimate trade 
and industry are finally crushed out and disappear. 



CHAPTER IV. 

FEOM ZAPOTLAK TO GUADALAJAEA. 

"\TTE were under a cloud, as it were, in Zapotlan, 
wliere we arrived somewliat unexpectedly, in 
advance of tlie time wliicli liad been fixed upon by the 
population, and tlie reception of Mr. Seward, thougb 
hospitable, lacked tlie waimtli and enthusiasm we had 
noticed elsewhere on our trip. We left Zapotlan on 
the 17th of October, therefore, with no feelings of re- 
gret, even in view of the fact, that by prolonging our 
stay a few days we might have been enabled to " assist " 
at the bull-fights, which were to last a full week, and 
for which a large amphitheatre was being erected, 
and extensive preparations making. The bull-fights 
were to be followed by cock-fights, on a grand scale. 
It is a little singular that the people of the towns where 
the festivals of the Saints are celebrated with the great- 
est furore, take the most delight in the cruel and de- 
moralizing amusements of the bull-ring and the cock- 
pit, but it is true nevertheless. Zapotlan is a good 
illustration of the union of piety and brutality. Zaca- 
tecas and several other States have by legislative enact- 
ment abolished bull-fights, but in Jalisco they are still 
the popular amusement. 

As we advanced into the interior we continued to 
ascend the spurs of the Sierre Madre, until we had 
reached a point twenty miles north-eastwai-d from Za- 



96 CROSSES BY THE ROADSIDE. 

potlan, wlien we found ourselves upon the summit of a 
range of broken mountains, in a locality famous for its 
brigandage. The bandits, who have been so relentlessly- 
pursued and are now being exterminated, formerly, 
rarely allowed a traveler to pass this point unrobbed. 
All along the road from Zapotlan, we had noticed large 
wooden crosses by the roadside. Each of these crosses 
bore an inscription giving the date of the murder of 
some traveler 1)y the brigands, and such facts as might 
be known concerning him, with a request for travelers 
to pray for the repose of his soul. These crosses were, 
in nearly every case, adorned with fresh flowers, though 
they were often of great age, judging by their weather- 
stained and moss-grown condition. 

From passages in Byron's Childe Harold, we learn 
that this custom is observed all over Spain, and I know, 
from personal observation, that it is common in all Span- 
ish America. In the Apache Country of Arizona, I 
have many times seen the poor Mexican miners stay for 
hours, to erect a rude cross of stone over the remains of 
some victim of the relentless savages, although they 
were personally unacquainted with him, and knew 
naught of his history, only judging by his appearance 
that he was a Christian. 

These gentlemen of the road are still numerous and 
daring. Only quite recently they kidnapped a gentle- 
man at night in the streets of Zapotlan, and run him off 
to the mountains, where they kept him prisoner until 
his friends raised and forwarded to them one thousand 
dollars in coin ; and a few days before, they attacked 
and routed the guard accompanying the brother of Mr. 
Oetlinsf, North German Consul at Colima, within a few 
miles of Seyula, and he only saved himself by the fleetness 



A LAND OF BRIGANDS. 



97 



of liis horse. The members of tlie fraternity wlio liave 
been made prisoners and executed, acknowledged theii* 
guilt, and admitted tliat tliey were connected with a 
band which had ramifications throughout the Central 
States of the Republic, and kept regular accounts of 
their profits and losses, and made dividends to the 
stockholders on the best and most liberal conmiercial 
system. But the Republic and the several States are 




HACIENDA IN TUE MOUNTAINS OF JAXISCO. 

now actively at work in conjunction, and it is " short 
shrift and a long rope " whenever they catch any of the 
precious rascals. 

From the summit of the range which we had been 
ascending all the morning, we looked down at 11 a. m., 
on a scene of infinite beauty, and almost unlimited ex- 
tent. Spreading out from the base of the hills on which 
1 



98 A MAGNIFICENT VALLEY. 

we stood, to tlie very limit of the vision in tlie east- 
ward, was a magnificent valley, divided into farms witli 
neat hedges and fences, and dotted with mesquite and 
other trees, giving it the appearance of one vast or- 
chard and garden. Fields of tall corn, now almost ripe 
for the harvest, waved through all the valley, and here 
and there the white walls and red roofs of large hacien- 
das and village churches were seen through the embow- 
ering foliage. Far away, in the north-east, were the 
mountains which cut off the valley from Lake Chapala, 
and northward rose a range of magnificent mountains — 
a spur of the great Sierra Madre — green to the summit, 
and checkered, here and there, with lighter green fields 
of corn. The long Laguna de Seyula stretched through 
the valley on its north-eastward side, and villages could 
be seen all along its banks. The bright sun shone 
down on all this peaceful scene, as it does in June in 
the United States, and the dark shadows of the flying 
clouds drifted like the moving figm^es of a panorama 
over valley, village, and mountain. But for brigands, 
and revolutions, and foreign invasions, this would be an 
earthly paradise — 

" A right good land to live In, 
And a pleasant land to see." 

We descended, at a gallop, into the valley of Seyula, 
the long line of our military escort, with their dashy 
uniforms and glistening muskets, stretching far out in 
the rear, and passed through a small village, inhabited 
mostly by people of Indian descent, who regarded us 
with unrestrained curiosity, but great respect, doffing 
their hats and saluting us with the pleasant compli- 
ments of the country, as we passed. 



OUR WELCOME AT SEYULA. 99 

At a second village, we came unexpectedly upon a 
collection of eight or ten elegant carriages — regular 
New York turn-outs — drawn up in a line, and fifty 
horsemen, magnificently mounted, their saddles being 
of the costliest pattern and glittering all over with sil- 
ver, formed in double column. Instantly, the bells of a 
little church rang out a joyous peal, unusual on a Sab- 
bath-day, and as the coach stopped, the horsemen ad- 
vanced and sat with uncovered heads, while their 
spokesman informed Mr. Seward, that they came on 
behalf of the Government and people of the State of 
^ Jalisco, and the authorities and residents of Seyula, to 
welcome him to their State and town, offer him an hima- 
ble dinner, and the hospitalities of the place for as long 
a time as he chose to abide with them. Mr. Seward 
replied as briefly and heartily as possible, and leaving 
the stage and entering the carriages, the party started 
off with the double escort at full speed for Seyula, five 
miles distant. 

Arriving at the to-wn, we found all the population 
out to meet us, and from every door and window, and 
every accessible spot on the sidewalks, respectful salu- 
tations greeted the strangers from the North. Dark 
eyes and red lips, such as we saw but seldom in the 
*' Tierra Caliente," smiled welcome upon us, and as the 
carriages rolled into the Plaza de Armas, the ringing of 
bells, firing of cannon, strains of martial music, and 
vivas of the populace, added emphasis to the greeting. 
Through a double file of well-dressed and intelligent- 
looking citizens, then through the portal lined with 
swarthy soldiers presenting arms, the party passed into 
the great paved court-yard of the Gam Grande of Sey- 
ula, and entering the parlor of the house were made at 
home, at once. 



100 TILE WIJSIES OF MEXICO. 

The presentations over, we were invited into tlie 
hall, where breakfast — it was a grand dinner in fact 
— ^was spread, and the tables were speedily filled, 
all the places not occupied by our party being taken by 
the citizens and accompanying ladies, while a swarm of 
servants and citizens waited upon them. It is the 
fashion, in Mexico, to change the plates of the guests 
with every dish, and plate followed plate in rapid suc- 
cession, until we were surfeited. Wines, too, were there 
in abundance, and the best of all was the dark, rich, 
jfruity, and oily product of the grape of Seyula, resem- 
bling Malaga of the finest quality, which it fully equals, 
if it does not actually excel. 

We were now, for the first time, in the grape-produc- 
ing region of Mexico, and our first introduction to its 
wines was an agreeable one, indeed. Fraternity and 
good feeling were the order of the day. What sur- 
prised us most, was the fact, that these people had only 
heard of the coming of the i^arty six hours previously, 
and that this whole demonstration was thoroughly im- 
promptu. I doubt if any to^vn in the United States of 
the same, or even twice the population, could, or would 
do as much in thrice the time, for the President himself; 
and all this was for merely a distinguished citizen of the 
United States, and friend of Mexico. 

When the solid viands had been removed, Enfraus 
Carlson, Political Prefect of Seyula, arose and read a 
warm address of welcome. Jose Gr. Arroyo, a young 
representative of the press of Guadalajara, followed in 
an impassioned and truly eloquent and patriotic ad- 
dress, and others followed in like manner. Mr. Seward 
made a brief reply, in terms similar to those of his 
speech at Colima, and his remarks being interpreted to 



LNTEIIESTIIS^G SCHOOL EXHIBITION. 101 

the audience by Sefior Canedo, were entliusiastically 
applauded. 

It was tlien announced tliat tlie annual conferring of 
rewards in one of the public schools in Seyula, which 
.was going on when we arrived, had been suspended 
for the time, in order that Mr. Seward might be pres- 
ent. Repairing to the school-house — there are four in 
this old town of eight thousand inhabitants — we found 
about one hundred and twenty-five boys and two hun- 
dred girls, arranged in the two wings of the building, 
the sexes being seated separately. All arose at our en- 
trance and bowed politely, remaining standing until re- 
quested to be seated. The furniture of the school-room 
was scant, and of the plainest kind, and the children, 
mostly, very plainly dressed ; but they looked cheerfal 
and intelligent, and all were perfectly neat and clean. 
There were all colors and shades of colors among the 
pupils, but there was no distinction of class or condi- 
tion, so far as their treatment and conduct toward each 
other went. 

A bright, manly little fellow, Lorenzo Yillalbazo, 
aged twelve years, came forward, and read in a loud, 
clear voice, an address which had been delivered at 
Guadalajara by an eminent fi'iend of education ; and 
Amanda Kon, Reymunda Villalbazo, and Geronima Or- 
tega, aged eleven, twelve, and thirteen years respect- 
ively, followed with readings of selections copied by 
themselves. Their reading was equally faultless, and 
could not well be improved. I noticed that in each se- 
lection, special reference was made to the public schools 
of the " great and powerful Estados Unidos del Norte " 
as the source of our strength and glory, but was told 
that the selections had not been made with reference to 
our being present, as we had not been expected. 



102 SUNDAY EVENESTG BALL A iLEXICAN BEAUTY. 

The distribution of prizes, silver coins with tri-col- 
ored — green, white and red — ribbons, followed. I no- 
ticed that a majority of the prizes were carried off by 
children of full Indian blood, and one of the highest 
was taken by a young Indian woman of seventeen 
years, whose scant, but scrupulously neat apparel indi- 
cated, umnistakably, that she was the daughter of peo- 
ple in very poor circumstances. 

I am surprised at the excellence of the public schools 
of Mexico, when I remember how recently they were 
called into existence, and, even more so, at the bright 
intelligence and excellent deportment of the pupils. 
On the streets, the children of Mexico are patterns of 
good behavior, and the rowdy element, so painfully ap- 
parent among the youth of our Northern cities, is 
wholly absent here. 

Seyula is one of the oldest cities of Mexico, and 
boasts of a number of churches quite out of propor- 
tion to its population. Some of these we visited. We 
found one of them, though plain outside, a magnificent 
structure inside, with long rows of pillars and vaulted 
ceiling, painted in rich fresco designs beautifully exe- 
cuted. 

The inhabitants of Seyula, not to be outdone by 
those of more pretentious towns, got up a select dan- 
cing party in the evening, in honor of their visitors, and 
among the dancers I noticed an unusual number of fine- 
looking men and beautiful women, of the pure, or . 
nearly pure, Spanish type. One of these, Dolores Mora, 
daughter of the paymaster of the State Guard of Ja- 
lisco, then in the field against the bandits, was a perfect 
beauty, and would have been a belle in any ball- 
room in Christendom. A full, round face, soft, dark- 



BIRDS OF THE TROPICS. 103 

brown hair, large, lustrous, black eyes, complexion 
just tinged with the hue of the olive, cheeks like the 
ripe, red peach, bright red lips, contrasting with the 
pearly teeth, and a slender, petite figui-e, moving with a 
willowy grace through the dreamily voluptuous mazes 
of the danza ; in all the store-house of my memory 
there is not a sweeter picture than that. 

At midnight we retired to rest, and all night long^ 
heard the strains of soft music from harp, and guitar, 
and violin, which told us that the festivities still went on. 

At day-break, as usual, we were off again on our 
journey. Our road all day — about thirty miles — lay 
along the margin of the Laguna de Seyula, and be- 
tween fields of tall corn, sugar-cane, beans, red pepper, 
<fe;c., <fec., surrounded by high fences of solid stone, 
mostly of lava formation. The roads were heavy with 
mud from the recent rains, and our progress very slow. 
The lake, swollen by the storm — was from three to six 
miles wide and thii'ty long. Geese, and little white 
cranes, curlew, plover, ducks, <fec., abounded along the 
shores, and great flocks of pink-hued bii'ds, resembling 
flamingoes, were seen from time to time. We saw two 
bright red birds, called "cardinals," perched on the 
tops of the great " pitilla," Cactus, which here forms a 
prominent feature in the vegetation; the castor-bean, 
which here becomes a permanent and beautiful tree, 
was seen all. along the road, and the tree-cotton^ — a cot- 
ton-plant entirely unlike that of our Southern States,, 
really a tree — abounded. The mountain sides were 
everywhere patched with fields of corn and barley — the 
first ripe and the latter two-thii'ds gro^\Ti — far up 
towards their summits. 

Villages, inhabited by working-people of Indian de- 



104 INDIAN VILLAGES. 

scent were frequent. At one of these, called Techa- 
luta, we were met by a company with a fine brass-band 
— every little hamlet in the country has one — and men 
with rockets, who played, and fired rockets as long as 
we were in sight. They had no flags, but had stretched 
every handkerchief and piece of bright-colored goods 
in the town, on lines across the street ; and a horseman, 
dashing up to the carriage, threw in an addi^ess of the 
most progressive republican fraternity ty|3e, addressed 
to Mr. Seward and signed by the princij^al men of the 
municipality. At another Indian village, Guamacate, 
we obtained a breakfast of tortillas, chicken, and fri- 
joles in abundance for fourteen persons, all for one dol- 
lar and a half The same fare would have cost us in 
New York two dollars each. 

At 2 1-2 o'clock p. M. we reached the end of our day's 
journey at the village of Zacoalco, and were met outside 
of the town by thirty finely mounted men, as at Seyula, 
and escorted to our lodgings in a large, cool, roomy 
house, surrounding a square area filled with tropical 
trees and flowers. The military guard of the town 
were drawn up at the gate-way to receive us, and the 
entire population was gathered in the vicinity. We 
were now at the head of the Laguna de Seyula, and at 
the commencement of the Laguna de Zacoalco. From 
the shores of the lake at Seyula, is taken the soda-earth 
used in making soap all over this part of Mexico. From 
its waters, salt of a fair quality for mining purposes is 
manufactured ; and the owner of the lake. Sen or Es- 
candon of the city of Mexico, derives fron; it a revenue 
of sixty thousand dollars per annum, though it is but 
carelessly administered. 

The valley is dotted all over with the bean-bearing 



RECEPTION AT ZACOALCO. 105 

mesquite trees, and on tliem grows a variety of 
parasites — tlie misletoe and a similar parasite plant — 
bearing bright scarlet blossoms in wonderful profusion. 
Tlie variety and beauty of the flowers are so great as 
to be beyond the power of description. Even the best 
educated residents of the country do not know the 
names of half the flowers we saw by the roadside. 
Twenty leagues is the distance from Zacoalco to the 
great city of Guadalajara, where we were to rest on 
our journey for a week or more. 

We left Seyula, under the impression that at Zaco- 
alco we should rest in peace, with no serious demon- 
strations, the place being represented as extremely dull. 
We were therefore much surprised to find the town 
of some fifteen thousand people, mde-awake, and 
determined not to be behind the other little cities of 
the State of Jalisco, in its hospitalities. We were in- 
vited at 8 p. M. to participate in a dinner, which for 
comj^leteness and sumptuousness in all its details, could 
not be excelled at the finest hotel in New- York Avith 
every preparation, and found a number of prominent 
citizens of the place in attendance, anxious to do the 
honors of the table in the most creditable manner. 
They did it. After dinner, the company returned to the 
parlor, where addresses, fervid, eloquent, and patriotic, 
were delivered by the Political Prefect and other lead- 
ing citizens. Mr. Seward responded, in terms similar 
to those of his previous speeches, and his remarks being 
translated by Senor Caiiedo, were warmly applauded. 
Music and singing followed, and it was midnight before 
one of the most pleasant reunions we attended in Mex- 
ico finally broke up. 

At 6 A. M. on Tuesday, the bugles of the military es- 



106 BATTLE FIELD OF LA COEOlSrEA. 

cort sounded the advance, and tlie long train was off for 
Guadalajara ; just as the first rays of the warm Autumn 
sun of the tropics gilded the tall towers of the grand 
old Church of Zacoalco — towers which have looked 
down on the gray-walled town unchanged for three 
hundred years — kissed the placid waters of the Laguna 
de Zacoalco, and crowned with glory the grand, old, 
green-clad mountains which surround the ever-beautiful 
valley. 

Half-a-dozen miles from Zacoalco, we ascended a steep 
hill of volcanic origin, and came upon the battle-field 
of La Coronea. Here, the Imperialists sent out by Max- 
imilian, to prevent the Republican Army of the West 
commanded by Gen. Ramon Corona advancing fi'om 
Sinaloa, from uniting with those of Escobedo who com. 
manded the Army of the North before Queretaro, were 
strongly intrenched on the summit of the broken, irreg- 
ular hills, with stone walls in front. The position com- 
manded the road on both sides and is natui^allv a strono; 
one ; but the tide of war had turned ; the ragged Chin- 
acos, who at first were demoralized in presence of the 
better drilled and better armed French, Belgian and 
Austrian mercenaries, had learned fi'om experience how 
to fight them, and the foreign invaders were themselves 
demoralized and disheartened. Corona's forces carried 
the position at the point of the bayonet, and the Impe- 
rialists were utterly routed, the entire force being killed 
or made prisoners. Escobedo had already routed and 
scattered like chaff the Imperialist Army of the North 
under Miramon, at Zacatecas, and was laying siege to 
Queretaro. Corona arrived before the doomed city just 
in time to participate in the most desperate portion of 
the contest. 



GENERAL ANGEL MARTINEZ. 107 

When the last desperate sortie was made by Maximil- 
ian with the hope of cutting his way out and escaping to 
the Pacific coast, via Morelia, Corona's division caught 
the full weight of the blow, and was savagely handled 
and cut to pieces ; but the delay was fatal, though the 
sortie had become an almost insured success^ for it ena- 
bled the Eepublicans to rally to the rescue just in time. 
Escobedo's victorious army came up, and, falling upon 
the Imperialist forces, rolled them back in utter rout 
within their intrenchments, and from that time forth, 
the fate of the Empire and of Maximilian was sealed. 

Among the most daring, active, and determined of 
the officers in General Corona's command, was General 
Angel Martinez, a native of Sinaloa, and commander 
of a brigade noted for its rough style of fighting and 
defective outfit. This dashing officer, with the most 
inadequate means, accomplished important results and 
contributed much to the overthrow of the Imperial 
cause in the North-west. His enemies nicknamed him 
'"''■El Maclietero^'' fi^om the machete or short sword — the 
favorite weapon of his followers — a weapon which he 
himself wielded with terrible effect on more than one 
occasion. When Corona was holding the French in 
Mazatlan, after the terrible defeats he gave them at the 
Presidio of Mazatlan and Palos Prietos, Martinez en- 
tered Sonora, and swept it like a whirlwind ; nothing 
escaped him in the field, and the hurried evacuation of 
Guaymas by the French at his approach, alone saved a 
remnant of the force fi'om utter extermination. 

In one of the battles, near Hermosillo, the forces of 
the Imperialist butcher, General Lanberg, who was the 
j)erpetrator of the wholesale massacre of La Noria, were 
cut to pieces, and Lanberg, himself, lassoed and pulled 



108 A TERRIBLE PUN. 

out of the saddle, witli a jork whicli broke liis neck, by 
one of Martinez's subalterns. War to tke death bad 
been proclaimed on both sides, and no quarter was 
given or asked. 

One day in 1809, the writer was standing on Mont- 
gomery street in San Francisco, conversing with General 
Martinez and others, when the subject turned on the 
languages which each spoke, or did not speak. One 
could speak Spanish, English and French ; another Ger- 
man, English and French, and so on. One of the j^arty 
deprecatingly remarked that his Spanish was deficient, 
but added, " I have managed to wade through a good 
deal of French in my life-time." " What does he say ? " 
asked the General quickly. The remark was translated 
to him literally, when he instantly lifted his hat with a 
polite bow, and responded, " Yo tambien Senor !" (I 
also Sir !) It was, all things considered, the most ter- 
rible pun I ever heard uttered. 

For twenty miles, our road led us along the shores 
of the Laguna de Zacoalco, a part of the time with the La- 
guna de Seyula on the opposite side of the tongue of land 
on which we traveled. The soil was for the most part 
coarse and gravelly, and the country little cultivated. 
The mountains, though covered with dense verdure, 
were composed almost wholly of old lava, and all the 
fences along the roadside were built of the same mate- 
rial, in fact, this entire country is of comparatively re- 
cent volcanic origin. At thenip23er end of the Laguna 
de Zacoalco, we passed near the water-side for miles. 
Great cane-brakes came up to the road in many places, 
and, growing by the edge of the water, we saw thou- 
sands of beautiful pink and sj^otted lilies, richly fra- 
grant, and much like the Japanese lily in appearance. 



SANTA ANNA ACATLAN. 109 

Many species of bii'ds, unlike those of tlie United 
States, were seen all along tlie shores of the lake. 
Among them were flocks of large pink birds, which in 
the distance appeared to me like the ibis. I also no- 
ticed the "wandering ibis " of Audubon, and the " Great 
Whooping Crane," snow white, excej^t two bars of 
black on the wings, with black legs, red spots on the 
top of the head, and black bill. This crane is occa- 
sionally killed in Illinois and other western states, 
and was confounded by Audubon wdth the sand-hill 
Crane of the west, he supposing it to be the old bird 
of that species. There was also a large crane with snow 
white body and jet-black wings, of which I once killed 
a single specimen north of the Rio Grande, in Texas, 
the small white crane of the west, and swarms of birds 
of the curleAV and plover species, quite new to me, 
though I am familiar with the bii-ds of all parts of the 
United States. 

At 10 o'clock, we arrived at the village of Santa 
Anna Acatlan, where we breakfasted at a Mexican 
fonda, or hotel, the first we had visited in Mexico. Oui- 
table was set in the corridor, opening on the square 
area, or patio, in the center of the establishment, and 
adjoining 'the kitchen. Everything came upon the ta- 
ble in excellent order, clean and well cooked. It is a 
singular fact that in Mexico one never sees a badly- 
cooked dish. Such a thing as a joint of meat coming 
upon the table half-raw, is wholly linkno^vn here. 
There are many people who adhere to the belief, that 
when modern " improved " cooking-stoves came into use 
in the United States, and the old-tashioned bake-ovens 
disappeared, good cookery vanished with tliem, and 
I am more than half inclined to admit that they ai'e 



110 A MEXICAN FONDA. 

right. These Mexicans who have only earthern ovens 
and stoves, utterly unlike anything ever seen in our 
country, and not a single ii'on dish, all being of the 
light glazed, brown earthernware of the country, con- 
trive to cook twenty times as great a variety of dishes 
as we are able to compound, and Avhat is more, cook 
them all to perfection. On the whole, I don't think we 
know anything about cooking in the United States. 

The charges at these Mexican " fondas " are quite rea- 
sonable ; say twelve and a half to twenty-five cents, at 
the outside, for a " square meal," and lodgings, such as 
they are, at a nominal cost. They do not usually pro- 
vide beds, the travelers carrying blankets, or mattresses, 
with them ; and as the beds are not unlikely to be a 
little too much crowded for comfort when they are fur- 
nished, it is better to carry your own sleeping outfit 
with you. 

From the hill above Santa Anna Acatlan, we had a 
fine view of the immense Hacienda del Plan, the largest 
and finest sugar estate in the State of Jalisco. The 
house stands upon a hill overlooking the Laguna de 
Zacoalco, and is surrounded by the sugar-works and 
other buildings, with vast fields of sugar-cane, now two- 
thirds grown — it requires from one year to fourteen 
months to come to fall maturity — in all directions. 
The house is like a great square castle in appearance, 
with columns and verandah all around, and looks like 
a fit place for the residence of a prince. 

From this estate, a large part of the great State of 
Jalisco, which has nine hundred thousand inhabitants, 
or more than any other in Mexico, derives its supply of 
sugar, and its products are sent even as far north as the 
Kio Grande. It belongs to Senor Ramos, one of the 



STRANGE SIGHTS ON THE ROAD. Ill 

wealthiest land owners in Mexico. The grand canal, 
miles in length, and of solid masonry, through which 
the water is carried for ii'rigating this estate, cost in 
itself a colossal fortune, and the sugar-mills and other 
improvements must have required an outlay of a million 
dollars, at least. As it was a little distance from 
our road, we did not visit it. 

After leaving Santa Anna Acatlan, we passed 
through a better cultivated country for some miles, and 
then entered a pass through the mountains to the north- 
eastward, which led us into the Yalley of Guadalajara. 
Passiuir throus-h one Indian villao-e, we saw a number 
of men and women kneeling in groups by the roadside 
and looking imploringly at the carriage, but they did 
not speak or hold out their hands like beggars, and we 
were unable to form any idea of their object.. They 
remained kneeling and regarding us in silence as long 
as we were in sight. There Avas something unnat- 
ural and painfal to me in the spectacle of those men 
and women thus kneeling on the earth, in silent suj)pli- 
cations, as if they had mistaken the j^arty for visitors 
from heaven instead of apother country, and I would 
be sorry to see it repeated. 

We saw another strange sight next day. Indian 
men and women, walking by the roadside, carrying 
great burthens on their backs, three hundred or four 
hundi'ed pounds weight of coarse earthernware or other 
articles, in long wicker baskets, and braiding straw 
hats, or knitting fine embroidery as they moved alon^, 
bending beneath their loads. Of this embroidery I 
shall speak again hereafter. 

Our road continued to be fearfully cut up, and heavy 
from the recent rains, and our progi-ess slow. We were 



112 TEQUILA SOMETHING VERY CHOICE. 

now in a country wliere the freigliting business is car- 
ried on, mostly, witli heavy wagons and heavier ox-carts 
with enormous wheels of wood, with wooden axles and 
no felloes, the whole middle of the wheel being filled with 
a solid block of heavy wood. The oxen are yoked by 
the head instead of the neck, and driven, half a dozen 
yokes to a single cart, like mules before a wagon. The 
wives, and often the children, of the cart-drivers ac- 
company them on their long journeys from city to city, 
and one of their camj)s by the roadside is a little vil- 
lage in itself The poor people of the villages along 
the route live, to a considerable extent, by supplying 
these teamsters and other travelers with articles of 
food, cheese, fruit, cigarritos, matches, and ardent spir- 
its. A bottle of the fiery liquid distilled from the 
mescal plant, otherwise called the " American aloe," or 
" century plant," which blossoms in this latitude in five 
to seven years from planting, instead of once in a hun- 
dred, as is commonly believed at the North — called 
" mescaV^'' — is sold at the little wayside stands for six and 
one-fourth cents, and will produce as much drunken- 
ness as a barrel of North American whisky. 

There is a superior variety of the mescal produced 
near Guadalajara, and called after the village in which 
it is made "Tequila," (pronounced Tekela.) This 
costs more, and is sent to the City of Mexico and else- 
where, as something very choice for a present to one's 
friends. I took one drink of it under the supposition 
that it was annisette^ or some other light liquor, swal- 
lowing possibly about an ounce, druggist's measure, be- 
fore I smelled the burning flesh as the lightning de- 
scended my throat. As I sat down the glass my head 
began to increase in size so rapidly, that I saw at once, 



EFFECTS OF TAKING A DRINK. 



113 



that unless I got outside immediately, the door would 
be too small to admit of my passing thiough it. Seiz- 
ing my hat which appeared to have become of about 
the size of an ordinary umbrella, I turned it up edge- 
wise, and succeeded by a tight squeeze in passing it 
through the door; the street then appeared funnel- 
sha23ed, and I remember an odd fancy that I was to re- 
semble the man who ^' went in the big and came out at 
the little end of the horn." Curiously enough my legs 
decreased in size, as my head en- 
larged, and my last recollection 
of the affair is that my person 
resembled a sugar hogshead 
walking off on two straws : 
body I had none. No more 
tequila for me, please ! 

The teamsters and muleteers 
drink this clear, colorless, harm- 
less-looking concentrated light- 
ning with apparent impunity ; 
but a single bottle of it will 
cause a rebellion among an en- 
tire regiment of soldiers, and 
very likely result in a pi'onun- 
ciamento on the spot. Nevertheless, the ox drivers, 
like the muleteers, are a quiet, well-behaved, and gen- 
erally honest and trustworthy class of men, quite equal 
in these particulars to any class in the same walks of 
life in any country. 

When we were in the pass through the hills, between 
the Valleys of Zacoalco and Guadalajara, our team 
weut down in a mud-hole of unusual depth and enor- 
mity, and stayed there for nearly two houi-s before it 
8 




A SWELL-HEAD. 



114 FIEST VIEW OF GUADALAJARA. 

could be extricated. When, at last, we passed across 
to rolling and but sparsely grassed and wooded plains, 
resembling those of Southern Calilbrnia in appearance, 
with numerous villages, each with its great house and 
white-walled church, and came upon the edge of the 
table-land overlooking the proud City of Guadalajara, 
the sun was just going down in the west, and the full 
round moon coming above the eastern horizon. What 
a glorious scene ! The city, white- walled and red- 
roofed, with its numerous churches, and immense and 
magnificent Cathedral overtopping all, stood out 
grandly beautiful in the double light, a sight to look 
upon and admire, and to exult over in memory hence- 
forth through all our lives. 

At a little town three or four miles outside the walls 
of Guadalajara, we met a line of light carriages, with 
an escort of about one hundred citizens, splendidly 
mounted, on horseback, with the Municipal Council 
and the Secretary of Gov. Cuervo, and others, coming 
to offer the hospitalities of the city, and a heartj wel- 
come to the Capital of Jalisco. 

Entering the carriages, we were driven rapidly toward 
the city, the military escort, civil police in uniform, and 
mounted citizens forming a magnificent cavalcade nearly 
half a mile in length, galloping on either side. As we 
neared the walls, the roadside was lined with private 
carriages, filled with the beauty and fashion of the city ; 
and when we passed through the barrier and dashed 
down the narrow, well-paved streets, the sidewalks were 
crowded, and every window and house-top occupied. 
Beautiful women waved their handkerchiefs, and gave 
a smiling welcome on all sides. All Guadalajara 
seemed to be abroad in the cool, bright evening, all 



THE CITY BY MOONLIGHT. 115 

pleased, all happy, and all anxious to welcome tlie 
stranofers from tlie North. 

We were driven directly to a house, in elegance of 
appointment the counterpart of that of Senor Huarte 
at Colima, but on a much grander scale, and as soon as 
we were in doors, the keys were presented to Mr. Sew- 
ard, and the whole establishment was placed at his dis- 
posal ; he was told to consider it his own, and each 
member of the party requested to order what he de- 
sired, from a di'inh: of water to a carriage, during our 
stay. With the exception of the servants, the party 
were the sole occupants of the entire premises, and we 
were most emphatically " at home " for the week. Gov. 
Cuervo, with much consideration, sent word that as we 
had traveled so far, and must be very weary, he would 
postpone his call until morning, and we were left alone 
for the night ! And such a night ! 

Dinner over, I wandered alone out into the streets, 
visited the grand plaza, and saw the people of the city, 
old and young, rich and poor, proud and lowly, sitting 
on the seats beneath the orange trees, conversing and 
passing the time happily and innocently away, myself 
alone, of all the crowd, unknowing and unkno^vn. I 
heard the visit of Mr. Seward and party frequently 
mentioned, and some curiosity as to its object and full 
purport expressed ; but no unkind sentiments, no harsh 
suspicions were uttered in my hearing, and there seemed 
to be but one feeling toward the visitors. 

In this proud old city, the soui'ce of unnumbered rev- 
olutions and pronunciamentos in times gone by, I heard 
more whisperings, of love than talk of war on that de- 
licious evening; and when I retired to rest, the soft, 
fi-agrant air, heavy and sensuous with the breath of 



116 



THE OLD, OLD SONG. 



flowers, coining in tlirougli tlie open window, was ac- 
companied by the music of tlie light guitar, and the 
sweet voice of woman, singing the old, old song, from 
the blossom- wreathed balcoixy on the opposite side of 
the street. 



CHAPTER T. 

GUADALAJAKA. 

^ I^HE strange, ancient, aristocratic, and liauglity City 
of Guadalajara, held ns a full week from the pros- 
ecution of our journey, and after seeing its sights from 
morning till night, duiing all that time, we were as loth 
to leave it as ever. Every morning we went out to see 
some one of the dozens of beautiful ancient churches 
with which the City is adorned, attend early mass, and 
examine the quaint old pictures with which each 
abounds. One of the finest of these, perhaps the finest 
excepting the great Cathedral, is the Church of Our 
Lady of Guadaloupe, which is half convent, as well as 
church. There is attached to this church a " Retreat," 
with two hundi'ed cells. To this place the pious citi- 
zens of the City, repair to sj^end nine days of Lent, in 
monastic retirement, for the good of their souls. Each 
cell has a table, chair, and cot-bed, and meals are served 
to the temporary occupants by servants, thus enabling 
them to pass their time in absolute seclusion fi'om 
the world. For the nine days' board and lodging, 
and spiritual comfort, those able, pay four or five dol- 
lars, the others nothins;. More women than men resoi*t 
here and the cells are filled every year. 

All these churches have beautiful chimes of bells, cast 
in the city centuries ago, and the air is at times filled 
with their music. By the mimicipal laws, they are now 



118 



THE GEAISTD CATIIEDEAL, 



allowed to ring only two or three minutes at any one 
time, but they contrive to make the intervals between 
the rint^iui^ nearly as brief as those between the drinks 
in San Francisco. The services are similarly brief and 
frequent, and the churches appear to be nearly always 
open. 

The great Cathedral of Guadalajara is one of the 
most beautiful and costly temples of worship on the 
Continent ; ranking in Mexico only second to those of 
Puebla and the City in point of wealth, and for beauty 
far in advance of the latter. I cannot describe a Cath- 




THE GREAT CATHEDRAL AT GUADALAJARA. 

edral, though I try never so hard. Suffice it to say, 
that the roof is supported by ten combined or quadru- 
ple columns, of immense size, painted in pure white 



A mag:^ficent altar. liy 

and gold. From above the huge capital of each rises a 
beautiful arch, which seems so light and rtiry, as to 
make it impossible to believe that it is built of solid 
stone, and weighs hundreds on hundreds of tons. The 
grand dome, which without is covered with beautiful 
glazed tiles of different colors, laid in mosaic, is painted 
within in fresco, in the most florid but highly artistic 
style. A narrow gallery of bronze metal richly gilded, 
runs around the entire building, on a level with the 
capitals of the pillars which support the roof. Under 
the great dome is the grand organ, and arranged in a 
semi-circle behind the choir, the twenty-four seats for 
the Bishop and Canons. The choir is as superb as 
gilding and carving can make it. 

A few years since, this Cathedral was struck by 
lightning, and two of the organists were killed. In a 
vault below the pavement of the Cathedral, the dead 
Bishops and Priests have been accumulating for centu- 
ries. Under the great dome, in front of the choir, they 
are now erecting a magnificent altar, some thirty feet in 
height, of white marble and metal, gilded and burnished, 
which was imported from Rome at a cost of fifty-thou- 
sand dollars, and hauled — Heaven knows how — over 
the terrible, and, as we found them, almost impassable 
roads, all the way from Vera Cruz to Guadalajara. 
Several of the blocks are immensely heavy, one I 
should judge, weighing from ten to twenty tons, and 
the task of transporting them must have been, indeed, 
hercidean. 

Around the walls hang pictures of great age ; and 
in one of the rooms back of the altar we saw a collec- 
tion of life-sized statues of saints, apostles, and mar- 
tyrs, done in wood, and covered with some kind of flesh 



120 STKANGE SUPEESTITIONS. 

colored lacquer work, by native artists. Physical tor- 
ture, mental suffering, unmurmuring and glad obedi- 
ence to tlie behests of an all-powerful faith, or the 
beatific delight of the dying martyi-, beamed on the 
face of each. A more distorted, frightful and painful 
collection to look at was never seen together. The 
skill of the artists in depicting physical and mental 
suffering, with such materials, is beyond praise for its 
perfection. 

On either side of the altar, next to the wall, are old, 
plain, square, wooden boxes, each about six feet in 
length, covered with red cloth. In these two boxes, are 
enclosed the mummified remains of the first two bishops 
of Guadalajara. One of them has been lying there for 
three hundred years, and the other some forty years 
less. Both are said to be in a good state of preserva- 
tion. Above the coffins, on the wall, hang the broad 
brimmed hats worn by these worthy men in their lives, 
and we were gravely informed by our guide, that when 
the coffins are opened for any reason, the hats will 
immediately swing from side to side of their own voli- 
tion, as if doing reverence to the holy dust below. We 
did not see the coffins opened. 

But the charitable institutions and schools of Gua- 
dalajara claimed more of our time and attention, and 
are worthy of mention, even before the grand cathedral, 
which is one of its especial wonders. 

The great hospital of San Miguel de Belan, generally 
known as " the Belan," is near the center of the city, 
and encloses within its walls about eight acres of land. 
It was founded, as the inscription over the inner gate- 
way shows, in 1787, by Bishop Alcalde, whose first 
name I do not remember, and with whom, I presume, 



GKEAT HOSPITAL OV SAN MIGUEL DE BELAl^r. 121 

the people of the United States of the .present day 
had no personal acquaintance. Its revenues were once 
immense, they say one million dollars per annum ; but 
each succeeding revolution has impoverished it, and six 
or seven years ago, the late Bishop Portugal found it 
almost wholly in ruins and without funds to support 
patients. His office was worth a large sum per annum, 
and he had a large private property. He set himself 
earnestly to work to rebuild and endow this great hos- 
pital, and lived to see it once more in the full tide of 
prosperity, after having devoted his entire fortune and 
all the voluntary contributions he could secure to the 
institution. 

The amount expended in building and repairino-^ and 
the property bestowed upon the institution, from the 
rents of which it is now sustained, was estimated, all 
told, at six million dollars. The first thing a revolu- 
tionist did in past times, was to enlist all the prisoners 
in the Jails and State-Prisons, then seize the moneys 
m the custom-houses, mints, and charitable institutions, 
then force into his ranks all the able-bodied men in the 
community, and levj 2r>'esti77ios on the merchants and 
wealthy men In this manner, society has reo-ained 
fi'om time to time all the thieves, robbers, and vao-a- 
bonds which had been lost to it through the criminal 
laws, and the public funds and charitable institutions 
have suffered in proportion. The Liberal Government, 
during the [late war, was compelled much against its 
will, but from sheer necessity, to use a million dollars 
of the property of the Belan Hospital ; what amount 
the French and Austrians got I am not informed. The 
hospital now has about five hundred thousand dollars 
worth of property, from which it receives twenty thou; 



122 SISTERS OF CHAEITY BISHOP PORTUGAL. 

sand dollars in rents, all of wliicli it expends upon its 
patients, and through a commission of citizens it is 
most admirably administered. 

Tlie Sisters of charity attend upon the patients, but 
do not control the management of the institution. The 
number of patients now in the hospital is three hun- 
dred, and this is about the average in seasons of peace, 
but at times during the last war, it was nearly ^rebled. 
Bishop Portugal died poor, but left behind' him in the 
hospital, a monument which will cause his name to be 
honored and revered for centuries. 

The building is admirably constructed for the pur- 
pose. It is but one story in height, and there are, 
of course, no stairs to climb up and down. Then the 
rooms are twenty-five feet from floor to ceiling, insuring 
perfect ventilation, and all of immense size. The walls, 
of brick or adobe, are very thick, and the thick roof, 
with red tiles above, keeps out effectually the heat of 
the sun, so that there is no very percej)tible change in 
the temperature in summer or winter, and no artificial 
heating is necessary. No dirt, no noise, no blinding 
light, no musquitoes, flies, or vermin, are there. 

Entering the portal, near the center of the building, 
the visitor finds himself in a gallery, from which radi- 
ate, in fan form, six wards of immense length, three on 
either side. These wards are designated by the inscrip- 
tions over the doors, " God the Father," " God the Son," 
and " God the Holy Ghost," on one side, and on the 
other, " St. Vincent de Paul," " The Sacred Heart of Je- 
sus," and " St. John of God." The patients are allowed 
to see their friends as often as they desire, and appear 
to be well waited upon and cared for. The kitchen, 
dispensary, bath-house, &c., all appear to be remark- 
ably well-arranged and supplied. 



TIIE HOSPICIO DE GUADALAJARA. 123 

Passing one of the large rooms I noticed the sign 
" Operating Koom " over the door, and looking in 
through the open grating, saw a party of surgeons and 
students busily engaged in dissecting a corpse, so thor- 
oughly occupied in fact that they paid no attention to 
our presence. This part of the work was carried on 
much more openly than with us, and seemed to be re- 
garded quite as a matter of course by all present. 

Grander in proportions and conception than even the 
Belan Hospital, is the great Hospicio de Guadalajara, 
the equal of which cannot be found on the American 
Continent. This was founded a century ago by Bishop 
Juan CruzRuis Cabanais, a man of great wealth and 
piety, who endowed it magnificently. His fall length 
portrait, in which he is represented standing, in full 
Canonicals, before a table, on which rests a diagram of 
the complete structure, just as we see it to-day, and hold- 
ing in his hands the purse containing the endowment of 
the institution, hangs in the chapel of the establish, 
ment now. What it cost to erect a structure coverino^ 
six or eight acres of ground, with walls from three to 
eight feet in thickness, inclosing no less than twenty- 
two court-yards, each surrounded by magnificent corri- 
dors or portals, and furnish it throughout, I caimot tell, 
but it must have been millions of dollars, even in a 
country where labor costs next to nothing. 

This establishment was greatly rim down a few years 
ago, but through the efforts of the late Seuor Matute, 
and other patriotic and public-spirited citizens, it has 
been regenerated, and now holds within its walls six- 
teen-hundred human beings, fi'om the -foundling just 
brought in from the street, to the young woman or man 
ready to go forth into the world as a teacher, ai'tizan. 



124 THE INMATES OF THE HOSPICIO. 

house-servant, husband or wife. It is superintended by 
the Sisters of Charity, of whom there are some twenty 
in the establishment, and managed with an amount of 
economy and skill wonderful to witness. In its six- 
teen dijfferent departments it is at once, a foundling 
hospital, reform school, juvenile school, orphan asylum, 
asyluni for the aged and indigent, boy's and girl's high 
school, school of arts, workshop, college and hospital. 

In one department we saw thirty foundlings, two 
of which had just been brought in, all white, and most 
of them presenting an effeminate delicacy of feature, 
indicating "blue blood." The Indians, and people of 
part Indian blood, do not throw their childi-en into the 
streets, to be eaten by dogs and hogs, whether born in 
or out of lawful wedlock. They are neatly dressed, 
nursed by Indian women, and well cared for. In another 
ward were one hundred and five boys, arrested by the 
police, as vagabonds on the streets, and sent here to be 
reformed. They were drilling as soldiers when we 
came in. The City pays six and one quarter cents each, 
per day, for the support of these boys, and they all 
have to learn useful trades before leaving the institu- 
tion. I noticed among the children many who had lost 
one or both eyes, and was told that in the Indian vil- 
lages it is not uncommon for the parents to thus muti- 
late their children in infancy, to fit them for begging, or 
to enable them to avoid military duty. 

In another ward we saw the old women, some of 
them from eighty to one hundred years of age, and 
girls of weak intellect, sitting in the sun and doing some 
little plain sewing or knitting, and in an adjoining room 
a number of blind girls busily engaged in grinding 
half-hulled corn, with the metate into tortillas^ a sweet 



THE INMATES OF THE HOSPICIO. 



125 



smile on their faces indicating their knowledge of oiir 
presence. In another, boys were at work making shoes, 
tailoring, car pentering, 
and setting type in a reg- 
ular printing office, and 
printing with one of 
Hoe's Washington press- 
es, just such as I " roll- 
ed " upon twenty-four 
years ago, in a country 
printing office in the then 
" Far West. " In another, 
girls were sewing, em- 
broidering in silk and 
bullion, making lace, knit- 
ting, etc. In another, 
young ladies of the first 
families, who reside with 
their parents, were learn- 
ing painting and the high- 
est styles of embroidery. 

In another ward, two hundred children, between two 
and five years of age, one hundred boys and one hun- 
dred girls, belonging to parents too poor even to dress 
them, were being taught orally, as at the school of San 
Felipe. All the cloth for the clothing of the pupils, is 
made within its walls, and all the clothing, and boots 
and shoes required, are made up by the boys and 
girls. 

The kitchen, as large as an ordinary school-house with 
us, is floored with glazed tiles of beautiful pattern, and 
the old Spanish ranges have recently been replaced by 
English iron ranges, which cost twenty-four hundred 




BLIND GIRL IN THE HOSPICIO. 



126 THE CHAPEL OF THE HOSPICIO. 

dollars, but save fifty dollars per inontli on the cliarcoal 
bill, and are considered a good investment. Soup, meat, 
and beans are cooked bere for sixteen hundred persons 
at once, and they are now erecting an enormous kitchen 
in which the entii'e cooking for the State-Prison, con- 
taining from seven hundred to one thousand prisoners, 
is to be done. It now costs the State five cents per 
day, to board the State prisoners, and the Sisters expect 
to do it better, and make a profit on that figure, for the 
benefit of the Hospicio. 

The Chapel is really a grand Church, magnificently 
decorated with paintings, with a great dome, beautifully 
frescoed. The founder gave forty blocks of buildings 
in Gruadalajara, all under rent, as an endowment for 
this establishment; but most of the property is now 
gone. It costs only sixty thousand dollars per annum 
to support the Hospicio and Belan Hospital together 
and their resources being but forty-four thousand dol- 
lars, the State and City pay the rest. We spent four 
hours wandering through this great establishment, 
and^ after partaking of a collation, listened to a brass 
band of thirty pieces, played by boys instructed in the 
place, and operatic music by the young ladies, and then 
left because night had come and we could wait no 
longer. 

The schools of Guadalajara, new as they are — some 
of them but a year or two established — astonished us 
more than anything else we saw in this ancient City. 
The municipality of Guadalajara now supports eighteen 
primary day schools, nine for girls, and nine for boys,, 
free to all, and five evening schools, beside contributing 
to the support of several more advanced schools, accom- 
modating in all seven thousand pupils, and all at an 



THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF JALISCO. 127 

expense, as I was informed by Seuor Juan Ignacio Ma- 
tute, a member of the Munici2:)al Council, whose father 
may be called the father of the Common School sys- 
tem of Jalisco, of only twenty-five thousand dollars 
per annum. 

Then, the State provides two High Schools, or " lycees^^^ 
one for boys and one for girls, which are free to all 
who are unable to pay ten dollars per month for board 
and tuition — no scholar who can pass the examination 
can be refused, however humble or poor — where the 
youth are taught all the higher branches of mathemat. 
ics, the languages, vocal and instrumental music, and 
many arts by which they can gain an honest livelihood ; 
a school of Arts, in which four hundred boys are taught 
all the useful arts and trades, such as tailoring, saddlery, 
blacksmithing, boot-making, carpentering, etc., etc., and 
an Institute or college of higher grade, for the instruc- 
tion of boys intended for the learned professions. In 
addition to this, the State contributes a comparatively 
liberal sum towards the support of the Hospicio and 
other institutions of learning. 

We first visited the Girl's High School. This is the 
school provided by the State of Jalisco for graduates 
of her Grammar schools. It is situated in the old Con- 
vent of San Diego, which was closed and confiscated to 
the Nation by order of President Juarez, and is now 
wholly devoted to the purposes of free education. The 
building, like nearly all similar structures here, sur- 
rounds an entire square, and incloses a large court-yard 
filled with orange-trees and tropical flowers. It is two 
stories in height, and the rooms are all of great size, 
light, clean, and well ventilated. When the nuns were 
turned forth, the Government gave the use of the prop- 



128 THE girl's high school. 

erty to tlie State of Jalisco, for educational purposes. 
We found here two hundred and thirty girls from the 
age of twelve to twenty years, all bright, intelligent 
and happy looking. Those able to do so pay ten dol- 
lars per month, or one hundred and twenty dollars per 
year, and those who are not, (they comprise a majority 
of the pupils) pay nothing. For this they receive in- 
struction in all the studies usually pursued in the higher 
schools in the United States, vocal and instrumental 
music, object drawing, all the fine arts, embroidery, lace- 
making, and, better still, cooking, washing, ironing, and 
other household duties. They all board in the build- 
ing — board being included in the ten dollars per 
month — and take turns in doing the work in each de- 
partment, that all may know how to do such work well. 
Brighter and happier faces I never saw around me. 

We visited all the departments, from kitchen to fine 
art gallery, and foand that all of the teachers were 
native Mexicans, male and female, mostly young, 
and educated in the country. The pupils usually be- 
long to the best Republican families of the State ; but 
the highest and lowest, richest and poorest, fairest and 
darkest, are all admitted on the same terms of equality. 
When they graduate they are fitted for teachers in the 
public schools, or for housekeeping, or the various 
trades. 

We saw in the embroidery room, lace- work and em- 
broidery in silk, cotton and bullion of the most exqui- 
site fineness and delicacy. Some of the linen handker- 
chiefs, worked with portraits of Lincoln, Juarez and 
Zarragosa, in black silk floss, were equal in delicacy and 
accuracy to the best steel engravings, and the copies of 
oil paintings in silk embroidery, were perfect fac-simi- 



THE boy's high school. 129 

les of the originals. In tlie Music Hall, the pupils gave 
us the opera of Ernani in as grand style as it is usually 
given by the regular opera companies of the United 
States, the part of Ernani being sung by a little Miss 
foui'teen years of age, with a wonderfully powerful and 
highly cultivated voice. 

On leaving this beautiful retreat, once the shade of 
darkness and superstition and bigotry, now so justly 
the pride and the hope of the State, Mr. Seward re- 
marked, "Why, in Heaven's name, do peoj^le talk of 
' Protectorate ' for a country capable of such things as 
these." 

Next, we visited the Boy's High School. This estab- 
lishment, originally built by Bishop Parades, but now 
under civil control, contains nearly four hundi'ed stu- 
dents, and will soon have five hundred. It is almost a 
counterpart of the girl's High School, the system of tui- 
tion, cost to those able to pay — board, <fcc., <fec. — being 
the same. It is admirably conducted, and is as credit- 
able to the town as the other. The professors teach 
gratuitously, or for very small salaries. One teacher of. 
four classes gets but eighty dollars per month, and 
Senor Matute and others teach classes gratuitously. 
We saw a gymnasium, art gallery, considerable scien- 
tific apparatus, and other adjuncts of a first-class school 
of this grade, in the building. One great feature of 
this school is its library of thirty thousand volumes, 
mainly the spoils of the confiscated monasteries. This, 
in New York, Boston, or England would be an immense 
feature. There are thousands on thousands of volumes 
three centuries old and more, printed or illuminated 
by hand, and as perfect in their parchment coverings as 
on the day they issued from the press. Most of them 



130 THE SCHOOL OF USEFUL ARTS. 

are in Spanisli, but there are many in Frencli and some 
in English. 

I saw a dictionary in Spanisli and Aztec, printed in 
Mexico in 1571, and another, equally perfect, printed in 
Michoacan in 1559, long enough before we had printing 
offices in English America, There are many works 
printed years earlier in Spain and France. A large 
number of these books are in duplicate, and five thousand 
volumes of the most rare, carefully selected and exposed 
for sale in New York or Boston, would attract all the 
old book-fanciers on the Continent, and bring money 
enough to provide this school with what it most needs ; 
viz : a large and complete modern library in Spanish, 
English and French. An antiquarian book-dealer might 
make a fortune, and benefit mankind, by coming to 
Guadalajara and purchasing such of these works as the 
authorities would be willing to sell. 

The last institution of learning which we visited was 
the School of Useful Arts. This School is unique, and 
deserves more extended notice than I can give it. It is 
located in the old monastery of San Augustine, which, 
like the other establishments of the kind, now belongs 
to the Federal Government. We found four hundred 
boys, from eight to eighteen years of age, learning every 
trade from shoemaking to blacksmithing, carpentering, 
weaving, tailoring, etc., etc. There is a great desire to 
enter this school among the youth of Jalisco, and if 
there were accommodations and funds provided for 
them, there would be one thousand students instead of 
four hundi'ed. The boys are first taught to read, write 
and keep accounts, and then go into the workshops. 

All the clothing and boots and shoes worn in the 
establishment are made by the boys, the cloth being 



TIIE SCHOOL BAND OF MUSICIANS. 131 

made up from tlie raw cotton, spun, woven and colored. 
The boys do the cooking and other menial duties in 
turn. No work is paid for out of the place. It costs 
nine cents per day to board, dress, and educate each boy, 
01' a total of thirty-six dollars per day for four hun- 
di-ed boys. The Municipality pays six and one quarter 
cents per day — when it has the funds — for the support 
of each, or twenty-five dollars per day, and the remain- 
der is made up from rents of the property 1)elonging to 
the School, vv'Mch bring in two hundred dollars per 
month, and from voluntary contributions. All the earn- 
ings of each boy at any kind of work are paid over to 
him, and he deposits what he can, if his family do not 
need it for their support, in a savings box belonging to 
himself, kept in a common depository. When he has 
grown to manhood and has his trade well learned, he 
goes out with the little capital he has laid by, and en- 
ters business for himself. Sometimes he has twenty 
dollars only, and sometimes two hundred or three hun- 
dred dollars. 

The wonderful musical talent of this people is shown 
in the band of one hundred musicians, all boys in the 
school, who have earned their own instruments and 
have a fund in advance. A band of fifty played before 
us. One bright little fellow, Pedro Gallardo, twelve 
years of age, played the key-bugle in a style which 
would render him an acquisition to any military band 
in the United States. This band, by playing at public 
meetings, balls, &c., had earned six hundred dollars 
clear that year already. At the end of the year this 
fund is fairly divided. 

A fine old gentleman, Seiior Dionisio Kodriguez, has 
managed this school for twenty years, giving all his time 



132 PRIMARY SCHOOLS — ;PROGRESS. 

to it, the year round, free of cliarge, and wlien revolu- 
tion or other causes cut off tlie sources of supply, has 
from his own pocket made good the deficiency, his to- 
tal gifts amounting to many thousands of dollars. God 
bless and prosper him ; he is a true benefactor of man- 
kind. 

Some of the work done by these boys is very beau- 
tiful. We were shown a rehosa or lady's scarf-shawl, 
eight feet in length, and twenty-eight inches in breadth, 
made from the silk and cotton spun in the establish- 
ment, and woven in a common hand-loom of the oldest 
and rudest pattern, which was as beautiful in its change- 
able colors as the finest product of the looms of Lyons, 
It could be drawn through a small sized finger-ring, and 
was offered for eight dollars. 

The primary schools of the city contain five thousand 
pupils, and the schools for the two sexes are separate. 
The children are bright, intelligent, and ready to learn, 
and the schools absolutely free to all. There are one 
hundred and four Municipalities in the State of Jalisco, 
outside of the City of Guadalajara, and each of them 
supports one or more of these schools. The girls in 
addition to the usual lessons with us, are taught sewing, 
knitting, and other useful and necessary accomplishments. 

Say what you may, this is progress ! Give Mexico 
fifteen years of uninterrupted peace, in which to spread 
these schools throughout all the States, and she will 
astonish the world with her material advance, and make 
the dream of establishing a monarchy on the ruins of 
Republicanism in the New "World, idleness and vanity. 
God grant that she may have the opportunity to make 
good my prediction. 

After visiting the schools we went into the great 



THE GREAT CE.A[]:TERY OF BETHLEJVf. 



133 



cemetery of Bethlem. It is curious that the dead of 
the different families, Republican and i)lel)eian, or Im- 
perialist and aristocratic, cannot forget their differences 
and rest quietly side by side, even in death ; but such 
is the case in Guadalajara. Here, in the cemetery of 
Bethlem, the Republicans are buried, and in another 
sleep the Imperialists. There are but few graves in 
the open ground, as we see them in our American and 
European cemeteries, and none of them are decorated 
with shade trees and flowers, or even marked with tall 
monuments and tomb-stones. 

The greater number of interments are in niches or 
alcoves in the walls, which run in three tiers, one 
above another, 
all around the 
cemetery, w h i c li 
must cover f r o m 
four to six acres. 
These alcoves are 
each about three 
feet square by six 
and one-half feet 
deep, and when 
a coffin is placed 
in one, the en- 
trance is closed 
with cement, and 
the name, date of 
birth, death, etc., 
etc., of the deceased, placed over the stone fitted into^ 
the opening. It costs twenty-five dollars for the use 
of one of these alcoves five years, paid in advance. If 
at the end of that time another twenty-five dollars is 




THE CEMETEllY OF BETHLEM. 



134 



THE PASEO DE SAN PEDRO. 



not fortlicoming, the place is again for rent. In the 
open ground you can Tniy a lot six feet by eight, but 
the alcoves are only rented for five years at a time. 

In the center of the grounds there is a large chapel 
with vault beneath, in which rest many of the early 
church dignitaries of the diocese of Guadalajara. 

The roads are so unsafe all around Guadalajara, that 
the inhabitants never ride many miles beyond its walls 
without a strong, armed escort. The great, and almost 
only, place of public resort beyond the Plaza, is the 
Paseo de San Pedro, a broad, double, tree-lined avenue 
or alameda, with carriage-drives on either side, and 




A MEXICAN CAXiT. 



banks of green turf-covered earth, or plain stone be- 
tween, for seats. This is about a mile in length, and 
just outside the gates on the road to Mexico. Thither, 
all the cairiages in the city repair every pleasant eve- 



"a pleasant place to visit." 135 

ning, just before niglit-fall. Some of the fair occupants 
diive up and down in carriages, while others dismount, 
and, seated on the banquettes, pass their time in chatting 
with their friends, male and female, saluting each ac- 
quaintance who passes. _,— 

The young men ride around upon gaily caparisoned 
horses, and the young ladies frequently exhibit their love 
of odd adventure, by hiring one of the clumsy ox-carts 
of the country, and, a dozen of them together, riding up 
and down the paseo^ singing light songs and playing on 
the guitar, their gallants riding near them on horse- 
back and keeping up a running fire of chaffing and 
pleasant conversation, or bending from their saddles to 
whisper the story we have all heard and told, into will- 
ing ears as occasion offers. This is one of the oddest 
customs of the country. 

Leaving my seat in the carriage in which we visited 
ihepaseo^ to take one beside a fair young country-wo- 
man of mine, to ride back to the city, I noticed a full- 
loaded Colt' s revolver lying on the cushion by her side. 
" Oh ! that is nothing ; I always bring one out here when 
I come, as this is a noted place for robbers, who some- 
times jump out of the cane-brake, and rob a car- 
riage before assistance can arrive," she said noncha- 
lantly in reply to my look of inquiry. " Pleasant place 
to visit and enjoy one's self in ! I think I hear you say. 
Well, all that may be, but when you have nowhere else 
to go, what can you do ; one must have some recreation 
you know !" I said " Please pass me," and we rode home. 

Notwithstanding the slaiTghter of brigands by the 
State troops acting under the authority of the civil tri- 
bunals, the business of kidnapping citizens and car- 
rying them off into the mountains to be held for ran- 



136 INSECUEITY OF LIFE AND PKOPEKTY. 

som, is carried on witli astonishing audacity in various 
parts of the country, and even in the immediate vicinity 
of the city of Guadalajara. Some pretty tough stories 
concerning the standing and social position of the par- 
ties engaged in the business, are related by the victims. 
These stories are, perhaps, not always reliable, but I 
gathered enough from people who had been plagiared^ 
to satisfy me that an organization, as strict and effect- 
ive as that of the Thugs of India, has for some time 
existed, and still exists, though more limited in number 
than formerly, in Guadalajara, and numbers among its 
members some of the most prominent men and women 
of the old Imperial regime. Men, who have been rich, 
but who are now absolutely without legitimate income 
and unable to earn an honest livelihood, direct the 
movements of the bands, and map out the work for the 
lower order of cut-throats to carry out. Sometimes 
revelations made were of a startling character. I 
was one day conversing with a gentleman of high 
standing in Guadalajara, who had been carried off 
from the immediate vicinity of the city, and only re- 
leased upon the payment of iive thousand dollars, in 
coin. I asked him if he could not identify the men 
who kidnapped him, and received a ransom. '' I know 
every one of them !" was the reply. Then why do you 
not prosecute them and have them shot ? I asked. " I 
will tell you why: Every member of the gang has 
friends who would be apprised at once of the facts, and 
instructed to avenge their deaths in case I lived until the 
trial was ended. Governor Cuervo and his subordi- 
nates would do their duty without fear or favor, and 
the men would be shot ; but I should be assassinated 
within a week thereafter, or possibly, kidnapped again 



A STRAN&E STATE OF SOCIETY. 



137 



and carried off, to be tortured with every atrocity 
wliicli Apaches are capable of, and die a lingering 
death ; even my family would be persecuted, and per- 
haps meet a fate as terrible as my own." 

'■ But are the leaders of the band so highly connected 
as I have been told ?" I asked. 

"You may be your own judge in that matter. 1 
saw you introduced to one of them yesterday^ and hold- 
ing a long conversation with him /" 

" But you did not put me on my guard," I said. 

" Not I ; I have even visited at his house and dined with 
his family since my release, and his daughter is a warm 
friend of my own. That man received the money from 
my brother^ and he 
Icnows that T know 
him to he the regular 
financial agent and 
hroher for the hand /" 
It is hardly possible 
for a stranger to un- 
derstand how such a 
state of affairs can 
exist without the di- 
rect connivance of 
the authorities; but 
it does so exist, nev- 
ertheless; and the 
rigor with which 
Gov. Cuervo and his 
associates execute the 
laws, leaves no room 
for doubting that they are in earnest in the work. 

Guadalajara boasts of two Indian specialties, viz : the 
wonderfully elaborate embroidery in cotton and linen, 




INDIAN EMBR0IDEBBK8 AND THEIR WORK 



138 INDIAN EMBEOIDEEERS. 

on lace formed by tlie drawing out of part of the 
threads in fine white goods, of which, you can buy 
enough for a lady's skirt, six inches wide, for five to ten 
dollars ; worth from fifty to one hundi^ed dollars in the 
United States ; and statuettes, vases, and similar goods 
in earthenware, molded from common clay, with the 
hands alone, by men and women who cannot read or 
write, and have, in fact, no education whatever. This 
work is executed in a small village called Tonila, the 
seat of the Aztec Kings of Jalisco in the days of Cor- 
tez, fifteen miles distant, and sold around the streets. 
There is a place on the Plaza de Toros where they have 
cart-loads of every description of this earthenware, 
from a toy-cup to a flower-vase three feet high, for sale. 
They ask more for it than they do at the village 
where it is made, but still sell it astonishingly cheap. 
They have statuettes of every noted man in the country 
and of the world, ancient and modern, from an inch in 
height to two feet, all elaborately worked and colored, 
and many of them handsomely gilded. They will 
make you a statuette, a perfect fac-simile of yourself in 
miniature, on two day's notice. Of burlesque statuary 
they have hundreds of specimens, and their figures rep- 
resenting local characters, once the celebrities of the 
country, are wonderful. During our civil war, an 
American artist produced in clay, groups representing 
scenes in the war, the dying sentinel, wounded to the 
death, the attack, etc., all of which were fine ; and he 
gained great credit thereby ; but these poor illiterate 
Indians can show thousands of such statuettes and 
groups, all fully equal or superior in execution and 
vivid ex^^ression. A noted and infamous character is 
generally represented as being carried off, bodily, by 



IIS'DIAN STATUAKY MAKEES OF TONILA. 



139 



tte devil. Gen. Rojas, the bandit, formerly of Tepic, 
one of tlie most bloodthirsty cut-throats and murderers 
who ever cursed the earth with his presence, and who 
was shot some years ago at Seyula, is a common sub- 
ject for this style of art. I purchased a group repre- 
senting him, in full costume, being thus carried off on a 
grotesque devil's shoulders, the figures being each 
twelve inches in height, for one dollar and a quarter, 
and, I was told; that I paid more than double the usual 
price. For a pair of black enameled and artistically 
gilded water jugs of 
Japanese pa 1 1 e r n , 
holding two quarts 
each, very handsome, 
seventy-five cents. 
Statuettes of water- 
carriers, peddlers, etc., 
one foot in height, 
twenty- five cents 
each, and smaller fig- 
ures from a half cent 
to six and one-quarter 
cents each. My pur- 
chases filled a box 
containino; al:)Out four 
cubic feet, and the 
whole, cost only three 
dollars and a lialf 

There are four cotton-factories near tlie City of 
Guadalajara, viz : El Escoba, thirty-tliree hundred sjun- 
dles; Atamepac, five thousand; Salto, five hundred, 
and Experience, one thousand. The last l)elongs to the 
five brothers Lowery, who, though they have resided 




INDIAN STATUARY MAKERS. 



140 COTTON-FACTORIES AND PAPEE-MILLS. 

there twenty-five years, are still Americans. All were 
in operation on the same plan as those at Colima, and 
none making much more than expenses, owing to the 
high price of cotton, and the excess of manufactured 
goods in the market. Atamepac, we found to be, in 
appearance, a great college building, of cut stone, stand- 
ing back about thirty rods from the road, with a double 
row of orange-trees, in full bearing, on either side of 
the wide, grassy lawn leading up to it. The others are 
on a similar plan, but on a smaller scale. Two more 
cotton-mills are being erected in the vicinity. 

The paper mill, the only one in the State, belonging 
to Sen or Palama, is an immense structure with fourteen 
grinding or pulp engines ; a Foudrinier machine, which 
makes fair, white printing and telegraph paper six feet 
in width, and a smaller one which makes manilla pa- 
per. The process followed is the same as with us. 

They have an opera-house and theater in Guadalajara 
on the Plaza fronting the Palace ; it was erected by the 
city, but is not yet finished. It has already cost three 
hundred and fifty thousand dollars in coin, and will 
require fifty thousand dollars more to finish it. It is 
now occuj)ied, but has very little scenery — only a white 
cloth drop-curtain, and white-washed walls. The pro- 
portions are magnificent, and when finished it will seat 
four thousand persons, comfortably, and become one of 
the finest on the continent. It has five tiers of boxes, 
each with twenty-five separate apartments running 
around the entire wall. Each box, or apartment, is 
divided from the next by a low iron railing, and has 
its own distinct entrance and di'essing and re- 
freshment rooms. There are seats for eight persons in 
each box. Below, the parquette covers the whole floor 



THE OPERA HOUSE AND THEATER. 141 

of the building, and is provided witli cheap arm-cliairs. 
Admission to the boxes is one dollar, and to the par- 
quette seventy-five cents each. 

We attended one evening by invitation, and found a 
well-di-essed and elegant, but not large audience. A 
company from Cuba gave the " Domino Azul," in good 
style, and as effectively as the circumstances would ad- 
mit. The singing and dialogue was in Spanish, and the 
music of a national character. The audience, men and 
women, left the boxes and lounged in the galleries, 
chatting, and smoking cigarritos and sij^ping fruit- syi'up 
flavored drinks between the acts. The old — always 
treated with great respect here — and the middle aged 
and youna:, occupied seats in the same boxes, and there 
seemed to be no distinction on account of wealth and 
dress. The opera house is badly lighted with oil 
lamps suspended over each box, and the general effect 
is much marred in consequence. The house yields but 
six thousand dollars per annum to the city, and of 
course when money is loaned at five per cent per 
month, does not pay as a pecuniary investment. 

On another evening we attended again, by special 
invitation, the " Valley of Andorra," being given in 
honor of Mr. Seward. The boxes, which are usually 
occupied by the wealthy classes who lean toward Im- 
perialism, were only partially filled, but there was a 
large array of beauty, and the galleries were crowded 
with the Republican element. The " Mochos," evi- 
dently hate the men of the North, while the common 
people welcome them. There are no low melodeons in 
Guadalajara as with us, and with the exception of the 
bull arena, there are no other places of in-door public 
amusement in the city. 



142 PEOGRAilME FOR A SUNDAY BULL-FIGHT. 

The cruel and thoroughly demoralizing amusement 
of bull-fighting, once the national sport of Mexico, has 
been prohibited in the capital and various States, but 
is still maintained in Guadalajara. Determined to see 
all that was to be seen of the manners and customs of 
the people at this out-of-the-way corner of the world, 
we natui'ally inquired after the bull-fight, and were grat- 
ified, (?) On Saturday, a long bill, magnificently printed 
in gold, on blue satin with a lace border, was sent to 
our house. As a curiosity, and a memento of a custom 
now, thank Heaven, fast passing away, I translated the 
bill as nearly literally as possible : 

BULLS (i. e., lull-fight) IN" THE PLAZA OF PKOGKESS. 

GEAISTD PEEFOEMANCE ON SUNDAY, OCTOBEE 24, 1869. 

The company have arranged>for this afternox)n a selected and 
varied performance, which will proceed in the following order : 

PE0GBAM.ME. 

1. The music of the First Light Battalion, wisely directed 
by Prof. Santos. Hernandez, will begin to play from 3 p. m., the 
best airs of his repertoire. 

2. Five valiant bulls will be fought, from the well-known ha- 
cienda of Cuisillos, four of which will be done to the death. 

3. After the death of the fourth bull, a young bull will un- 
dergo the ISTovillo de Cola, which exercise will be performed by 
the intelligent and agile coleador, Francisco Rodriguez. 

4. Immediately thereafter another Novillo de Cola will be 
performed, and the bull be ridden by the celebrated bull-rider, 
Francisco Moya, and both the other coleadors. These exercises 
will be done at the fullest speed, and the coleador will throw 
down a bull and mount him with rapidity. 

5. Other bulls will be fought by the company if the time 
will permit. 

Peices. — A box with six chairs, four dollars ; seats in the 



AN IMMEJSrSE AMPHITHEATER. 143 

shade, fifty cents ; seats in tlie sun, twelve and a half cents ; 
seats in chairs, twelve and a half cents extra. 

Performance begins at 4 p. m., precisely. 

EuLES. — It is not allowed to pay money at the inner doors, 
and patrons of the performance will carry their own tickets to 
avoid confusion and crowding at the entrance, which would cre- 
ate annoyance. The soldiers at the garrison of Guadalajara 
will pay six and a quarter cents each, and will occupy the roof. 

Whenever the judge shall graciously grant the bull to the 
fighters, the company shall be allowed the usual gratuity in 
place of the animal. 

All tlie morning, a party of matadores^ picadores^ and 
tlieii" assistants, on liorseback and on foot, with, a band 
of music at their head, were parading the streets, the 
clowns in grotesque costumes yelling at the top of their 
voices, the praises of the " gran funoionj'' which was 
to come off at the Plaza de Progresso, in the after- 
noon. Two of the mounted men carried a pole, on 
which was arranged the handerillas^ or light fi'ame- 
works of wire, in the form of palm-trees, Chinese lan- 
terns, lyres, cornucopias, and other objects, each about 
three feet in length, covered with long, waving strips 
of gilt and tissue paper, which were to be attached to 
the bulls by sharp iron barbs to drive them to mad- 
ness. At the hour announced we drove to the Plaza 
of Progress, and found an immense amphitheater of 
stone, not less than five hundred feet in diameter, open 
toward the sky, and provided with seats arranged in 
five tiers, running around the entire structure, reced- 
ing toward the top, until they reached the corridor 
beneath which were the boxes of the aristocratic and 
wealthy portion of the audience. Soldiers guard every 
public place in Guadalajara, and we saw their bayo- 



144 THE AEENA AND TILE AUDIENCE. 

nets everywliere among tlie crowd wliicli surged around 

the entrance and within the gates. 

The roof above the grand corridor was covered with 

the soldiers of the o-arrison, and the State Guards 

. . . . ' 

m their j)icturesque uniforms, and the tiers of seats " in 

the Sim and in the shade " presented a sea of heads, the 
common and poorer people fairly packing them. The 
corridor was fairly filled — many ladies being present — 
but I noticed that the more refined and educated por- 
tion of the community did not appear, generally, to be 
there. There were, at a rough estimate, at least three 
thousand people in the amphitheatre. The band, of 
about fifty pieces, struck up a grand march, and at the 
sound of the trumpet, the company came into the arena. 
They were twelve or fourteen in number. The two 
matadors, men of advanced age, stout and agile, were 
in ordinary vaqueros costume, with broad hats, mount- 
ed on poor horses, and carried their spears, with short, 
blunt ends, in their hands. The two matadores and 
their assistants were all dressed in the full, old Spanish 
costumes, brilliant with gold and scarlet, knee breeches 
and shoes, short jackets, and black jaunty caps. 

Halting before the judges' box, the party sent two of 
their number up over the barriers and tiers of seats — 
as agile as cats they seemed — to exhibit to them the 
handerillas^ and ask their high permission for the fight- 
ing to commence, which was of course given. 

In rushed from a side door, a tawny brown bull, with 
wide spreading horns, the points of which had already 
been sawed off about four inches, and, throwing his 
head high in the air, he gave one glance around the arena 
within, like a dog in play, and dashed at the nearest 
man with a red mantle. The mantle was whirled quick- 



A QUIET BULL AND UIS FATE. 



145 



ly over tlie head of the wearer as the "bull just reached 
him, and, with a bound to one side, the youth was out ol 
his reach. 

This bull was too young and quiet for the sport, (?) 
and the handeriUas were fixed in either side of his 
neck by a very clever and active assistant, who bound, 
ed out of the way as he threw them, just in time to 




THE SUNDAY BULL-FIGUT. 



escape the horns of the animal. Still, the bull, though 
throwing his head fi*om side to side, whirling the han- 
deriUas around as if in sport, did not half fight, and 
the red mantles flaunted in his face, and thrown at 
times over his horns, only provoked him to momentary 
madness. So a matadore advanced with a sharp, straight 

3word, and as the bull dashed at him, made a thrust 
10 



146 A COWARDLY BULL ENRAGED AUDIENCE. 

just forward of the shoulder to pierce his heart, the 
crowd yelling to him to kill him at the first blow. 
The sword bent almost double by striking a bone, and 
went wdde of the mark. The matadore stopped to bend 
it straight again, and meantime the now bleeding bull 
dashed at one of the picado res on horseback. The pic- 
adore dropped his lance so as to catch the bull on the 
shoulder, and the moment the barb pierced the skin 
the poor animal, as is his wont, wheeled away. This 
was repeated again and again, and then the matadore 
gave him half a dozen thrusts, finally reaching a vital 
spot, and bowed to the judges ; the mob in the galleries 
on the opposite side, rewarding his courage and skill (?) 
by hurling banana-peel, oranges, and stale vegetables 
at his head whenever he came within their reach. An 
assistant now struck the dying bull in the neck with a 
double-edged knife, and the creature dropped dead as if 
stricken by lightning. Then, three old horses, harnessed 
abreast, were driven in and hitched to the bleeding car- 
cass, but it required the united strength of the whole 
company of " artists " to assist in pulling it out. 

The band played, and the second bull came dashing 
in. The fight, if such it could be called, was simply a 
repetition of the first. The third bull ran away from 
the horses, and would on,ly fight in self defence, running 
around the arena with his head raised as if appealing 
for mercy, and the now enraged audience shouted loud 
and long to " Turn him out," which was finally done by 
order of the judges, 

The fourth bull was a game fellow, and made things 
lively. He dashed at everything within reach, and 
drove the assistants again and again behind the bar- 
riers. The populace, excited to the highest pitch of 



A GAME FELLOW LIVELY TIMES. 147 

enthiisiasm, reached over tlie wall, and yelled, and 
shook their great hats and ragged blankets in his face 
to madden him to the utmost. He dashed at one of 
the picadores, got the horse under the belly, and shook 
him on his horns as he would toss a blanket. The 
crowd were frantic with delight. Then he made another 
dash at the same horse, and despite the vigorous prod- 
ing of the picado}'e J caught the poor, wretched animal 
in the same place, and held him on his horns until one 
of them penetrated his abdomen and fatally injured 
him. Notwithstanding this, the wounded horse was 
ridden until the entire performance was ended. The 
populace were happy. Then the bull " went for " the 
other horse, caught him, and rolled horse and rider over 
and over in the dirt — and the crowd roared with delight. 
To tell the truth, I felt a little satisfaction myself, until 
I saw the dismounted jpicadore unroll himself and spring 
to his feet uninjured. The horse was stricken to the 
death and taken away to die. 

The picadores have their right legs incased in a shield 
made of leather with bars of steel inside, similar to 
those worn on the arms by the Chinese short-swords- 
men. They invariably present that side to the bull, 
and so escape injury, except in very rare cases. The 
matadore gave this bull a thrust to the very heart at the 
first pass of his sword, and the stricken animal stagger- 
ing half around the ring, fell to his knees, and was dis- 
patched in an instant. This ended the killing, though 
the crowd furiously demanded another bull in place of 
the third, who had proven unfit for fighting. 

Then the coleadores, mounted on fine spirited horses, 
dashed in, and a young bull w^as let out at them. They 
rode at full speed along side of him, and endeavored to 



148 THE BULL-EIDERS. 

spring from their liorses upon his back, but failed on 
every occasion. Once, one of the coleadores (i. e. tail- 
pullers) went down between horse and bull, and was 
trampled upon by both, but not killed. This bull was 
turned out and a second and more lively one let in. 
He was run around and around the arena, and finally 
caught by the tail and thrown to the earth by one of 
the coleadores, and tied by the assistants, who held him 
until a cord — or, as a Californian would say, " a cinch " — 
was tied around him. Francisco Mayo then sprang 
upon his back, and he was allowed to regain his feet. 
The bull dashed around and around the arena, bucking 
and jumping, to rid himself of his rider, but in vain; 
and so the performance ended, just as night set in. 

And all this time delicate, beautiful women and little 
children had been sitting in the corridors, sipping cool 
drinks and looking placidly on, while they chatted on 
familiar subjects with their friends around them. 
Worse than that, as I looked up at the walls of the 
great Hospicio, that wonder of practical charity and be- 
nevolence, I saw several of the pious Sisters of Charity, 
whose holy work and holy lives we had so much admired 
when we visited the institution, standing on the battle- 
ments and looking down upon us. They could not see 
the slaughter, but could hear and enjoy the shouts of 
the populace, the music, and the moans of the tortured 
animals. 

This was the first bull-fight I had ever witnessed ; it 
will be my last. I believe I can say, that I never 
flinched from duty, however painful, and in the course 
of my journalistic life, I have been called on to witness 
many things of a cruel and horrible character ; but I 
have never yet been guilty of wantonly torturing any 



THE BONES OF THE DEAD PAST. 149 

living creature, and I should loathe and despise myself 
beyond measure if I felt that I could he guilty of again 
witnessing such a scene. The entertainment was given 
in good faith as a compliment, and accepted as such ; 
but such scenes can but brutalize and demoralize a com- 
munity which tolerates them, and I thank God that 
enlightened public sentiment is now setting so strongly 
against them, that the day is not far distant when they 
will be prohibited by law in this State, as well as in 
all other parts of Mexico. I have had just enough of 
bull-fights for the measure of my life, be it large or 
small. 

Every day I staid in Guadalajara, I saw something 
more to remind me of the fact that I stood among the dry 
bones of the past — that the world around me was a 
strange mixture and confusion of the fifteenth and nine- 
teenth centuries, the ideas of each struggling for the 
mastery. Utopian dreams of the future, and the savage 
faith and despotism of the past, jostle and crowd each 
other, day by day, and the end of the conflict is not 
yet. One day, I went out to see the Indian i-ecruits for 
the Army of the Republic of Mexico, drilling on the 
plaza, and, returning, saw in the distance the tower of 
the ancient place of worship in the Indian village of 
Tonila, in which the curious earthen structures of which 
I have spoken are made. This Tonila was the capital 
of the Eangdom of Jalisco, when Cortez landed in 
Mexico, and there, the descendants of the fierce Aztec 
warriors still reside — making clay images, while their 
sons and brothers fight for the maintenance of Repub- 
licanism, side by side with the descendants of the con- 
quisfado7's. 

Reaching our sumptuous quarters I found on the 



150 GRAND FAREWELL BALL. 

table, as a present to Mr. Seward, a tinie-yellowed docu- 
ment, written in quaint old Spanish, dated at Madrid in 
1676, and signed in a bold, round hand, with ink which 
might have been made but a week ago, " Yoe el Hey " 
(" I, the king. ") This is a royal proclamation of 
Charles, King of Spain, commanding that, thereafter, the 
officers of his army and civil administration should ab- 
stain jfrom the practice of compelling the Indians in the 
Spanish -American colonies to carry their baggage, and 
furnish them with provisions on their journey without 
charge, and ordering regular payments at fair rates to 
be made for their services thenceforth. 

Attached to this is a decree of Pope Clement Xth, 
addressed to his " Beloved Son in Christ, Carlos, Cath- 
olic King of the Spains," commanding and ordering the 
enforcement of the decree by the aid of the clergy. 
This document was filed in the Custom-house of Gua- 
dalajara, in which, at this day, the officers are sitting, 
collecting the customs duties on every article of goods 
carried from one state to another in the republic, as 
they did in 1676. At the same time came a certificate 
of honorary membership in the Academy of Sciences of 
Guadalajara, in which Mr. Seward is styled " Defender 
of the liberty of the Americas." 

The citizens of Guadalajara, without distinction of 
party, united on Saturday night in a grand farewell 
ball, at the " Institutio de Ciencias," in honor of Mr. 
Seward's visit, it being understood that the party were 
to leave on the following Tuesday for Guanajuato. The 
building, of one story, surrounding a fine large smoothly 
paved court-yard, was beautifully and very tastefully 
decorated for the occasion, and the illumination was 
very brilliant. The tables were set in the corridors, and 



THE BELMES OF GUADALAJARA. Til 

the dancing took place in the beautiful hall of the Stat<' 
Congress of Jalisco — a Legislature, by-the-hy, composed 
of but eleven members, a dangerously convenient num- 
ber for the formation of a " ring " — which is hung with 
the portraits of all the early patriots of Mexico, and 
paintings and engravings of rare merit. 

The hall and corridors were filled with as fine a com- 
pany as could be gathered on the Continent, and with all 
due respect to my fair countrywomen, I must admit, that 
I never saw so many beautiful ladies at a ball of the 
same size in the United States. The ladies here usually 
make their own dresses — ^there is but one French mil- 
liner in this city of ninety thousand people — and exhibit 
a taste in the selection of materials and colors very rare 
with us. Light gauzes, green and white, blue and 
white, or red, green and white, contrasted, appear to be 
the favorite, and the dresses are cut low at the neck and 
with short sleeves. The temptation to bring out their 
brilliant black hair and lustrous eyes in strong contrast 
by the use of pearl powder and rouge, is often too 
strong for resistance with the belles of Guadalajara, but 
this featui'e is not more noticeable in one of theii* ball 
rooms than in one of our own. They all dance well, 
but their parties on public occasions are less enjoyable 
from the fact that introductions off-hand, are not in 
vogue as with us, and a stranger may roam around all 
the evening without making an acquaintance, save by 
chance. 

When the guests had cleared the tables of the well- 
arranged collation, at 2 a. m., SeSor Don Antonio Go- 
mez Cuervo, Governor of Jalisco, a plain, honest, out- 
spoken, and energetic man, whose vigorous and uncere- 
monious shooting of brigands last winter got him. 



152 ELOQUENT ADDRESSES. 

" impeached " before the National Congress, (though he 
came out triumphant in the end, and returned to the 
work with more vim than ever,) arose and introduced 
Senor Don Juan Ignacio Matute, who read a brief ad- 
dress of welcome which I translate as follows : 

Hon. Wm. H. Seward : He who has given his blood, and 
after forty years continued efltbrt succeeded in abolishing Slavery 
in his country, deserves well of humanity. He who aided Mexico 
to conquer her independence a second time, deserves our most 
cordial thanks ! He, who, full of a spirit of conciliation, after a 
Titanic war, contributed to his utmost ability to the recom- 
mendation of the humbled South, deserves well of his country ! 
The people of Jalisco, filled with the love of liberty, salute 
with the greatest respect and honor, the distinguished American 
citizen, William H. Seward ! May Mexico, my adored country, 
following his noble example, yield a frank and prudent amnesty, 
and so conserve her future prosperity and welfare. On that day 
Hidalgo and Washington, rising above the shadows of the 
tomb, shall join hands together, and joy shall fill the hearts of 
a free people. Honor to the abolitionist of Slavery ! 

Alfonso Lancaster Jones, a Mexican citizen, grandson 
of the founder of the Lancasterian school system, next 
addressed the audience in Spanish, veiy eloquently and 
in a scholarly manner. 

Mr. Seward then sj)oke as follows : 

Senoes t Senoeas : We all are well aware, that the occupa- 
tion and settlement of the southern part of the American con- 
tinent anticipated, hj a period of more than a century, the 
occupation and settlement of the northern portion of the con- 
tinent — that the former fell to the lot chiefly of the Latin 
nations of Europe, and was conducted upon the priciple of an 
implicit faith and confidence in the ecclesiastical and civil ideas 
and institutions which prevailed throughout Europe in the 
fifteenth centiu-y — that the occupation and settlement of the 



MR. SEWAED's speech AND TOAST. 153 

northern portion of the continent fell to the lot of the German 
and Sclavonic races, who were deeply moved by ideas of politi- 
cal and ecclesiastical reforms. The result has been, that at the 
beginning of the nineteenth century, two different, and in many 
respects, antagonistical systems came face to face with each 
other ; the one extending along the Atlantic coast, from the 
banks of the Mississippi to the inclement regions of the north, 
the other extending, unbroken and undivided, from the Missis- 
sippi over the southern and western portions of the continent. The 
ideas of the North have continually gained strength everywhere, 
and have culminated there in republican institutions, which are 
based upon the sovereignty of the people, and which guarantee, 
in their highest perfection, civil and religious liberty. The 
southern nations of the continent have accepted the same broad 
and noble ideas, but the perfect establishment of tliem in a sys- 
tem of republican government has encountered the resistance 
of a long-cherished and powerful conservatism, animated and 
sustained by Em'opean influence and intervention. The south- 
ern nations, by the fidelity with which they have adhered to the 
republican system through so many and such serious obstacles, 
have given abundant evidence that they will ultimately and en- 
tirely acquiesce and cooperate with the republican nations of the 
north, so far as their institutions and laws are founded in natural 
justice and equality. What remains, and all that remains now 
necessary, is the establishment of entire tolerance between the 
North American States and the Spanish American Eepublics, 
and the creation of a policy of mutual moral alliance, to the 
end that all external aggression may be prevented, and that in- 
ternal peace, law and order, and progress may be secured 
throughout the whole continent. The people of Mexico have 
not misunderstood me in my past political career : and since my 
visit to Mexico, I feel encouraged more than ever, in the hope 
that the intimate relations which have been already secured, 
will become permanent and perpetual. It is a satisfaction to 
have learned, on my way to the Capital, that the policy and 
sentiments which I expect to find prevailing there have been 
fully sanctioned already by the people of the great, important. 



154 EESPONSE BY GOVERNOR CUERVO. 

and leading State of Jalisco. I ask you to indulge me, gentle- 
men, in the sentiment : 
Peace prosperity, and honor to the Governor and State of 

Jalisco. . 

To these remarks, and the toast, Gov. Cuervo re- 
sponded as follows : 

As a citizen of Jalisco, as a Mexican, as an American, more 
so as a free man, I cordially appreciate the splendid initiative 
of the illustrious guest of Jalisco, Mr. Seward, for the creation 
of the great continental American policy, so well defined by 
him in the toast I have the honor to answer. As a patriot, I 
will devote to the realization of that noble idea all that the in- 
fluence of an honest man may ever be worth, with all the faith 
inspired in me by the remembrance of its having been the 
golden dream of one of the most eminent martyrs of our lib- 
erty, the great DegoUado. May the sisterhood of all the 
American republics transform the world of Columbus into 
what it must be : the home of every free man, with no other 
distinctions but those imposed on all true hearted men by the 
services lent to humanity. Among the citizens of that glorious 
future country, our noble guest will be one of the first ; not for 
the eminent service he rendered to his country in a career as long 
as honorable, as a lawyer, a legislator, senator, governor, and 
finally, as Secretary of State with the glorious martyr Lincoln ; 
not for having been a faithful and loyal friend of Mexico in her 
days of painful trial, but for a whole life, devoted to the most 
noble of all causes : the absolute and unconditional emancipa- 
tion of millions of slaves. God preserved him from the assas- 
sin's weapon to reward him with the complete triumph of his 
holy idea. Join me, gentlemen, in this sentiment: To that 
citizen, whose name is his greatest pride — Mr. Seward. [En- 
thusiastic applause.] 

I have given these speeches, at length, as an illustra- 
tion of the spirit and aspirations prevailing in this 



OUR FRIENDS AT GUADALAJARA. 155 

comnninity, at this time, and as a part of the history 
of the day. That these aspirations will ever be fully 
realized may well be doubted ; but surely every right 
thinking friend of humanity will pray that they may 
be. We left the hall at 3 a. m., and on awaking at 6 
o'clock A. M. found the dancing still going on. 

On the following Tuesday morning, at day -break, our 
luggage was packed, the escort ready, and the stage at 
the door, and a host of warm-hearted friends of both 
sexes, came to say farewell — kiss, and bid us God-speed 
on our journey. 



CHAPTER YI. 

FROM GUADALAJAEA TO GUANAJUATO. 

TXTE left Guadalajara at 10: 30 a. m., Tuesday, Oct. 
26tli, in the customary style — a large guard of 
the regular cavalry of the Mexican Army in advance, 
and another following in the rear. Our vehicle was a 
capital thorough-brace coach, sent out from the City of 
Mexico for our especial use, di*awn by eight fine mules, 
and driven by George Elmore, a veteran stage-driver, 
who is said to be the best in Mexico. Elmore was 
born about forty -five years ago, at No. 187 Broadway, 
New- York, but has lost, in outward appearance, all in- 
dications of his nationality. When addressed in Eng- 
lish, however, his hearty " You bet !" betrays his Cali- 
fornian education at once. 

Gov. Cuervo, Senor Don Juan Ignacio Matute, Senor 
Don Luis Rendon, and Senor Cahedo, accompanied us 
as far on the way as the old, half-ruined suburban town 
of San Pedro, and there took leave of us in the most 
affectionate manner. 

Col. Lomeli, Commander of the Guard of Jalisco, 
came also to bid us adieu, and told us that on the pre- 
vious evening his men had shot, and mortally wounded, 
another robber, just outside the gates of the city on the 
road over which we had lately passed, and that the poor 
wretch was then dying. He also informed us that the 
confirmation of the sentence of death upon two rob- 



DEPARTURE FRO^I GUADALAJARA. 157 

ers tlien in prison at Guadalajara liad arrived, and 
that tliey would be sliot immediately. Mr. Seward liad 
been appealed to by their father, to intercede for them 
at the city of Mexico, but they were in their graves 
long before we reached Guanajuato. They deserved no 
S}Tiipathy. 

We took leave of our old fiiends, who had accompa- 
nied us all the way from Manzanillo, with much regret, 
and shall not soon forget their kindness and constant 
care for our welfare. Henceforth, we were under the 
care of Senor Don Luis G. Bossero, the special commis- 
sioner sent out from the City of Mexico to meet us at 
Guadalajara and escort us to the capital. He is a 
large, fine-looking gentleman, exceedingly courteous and 
polite in his manners, and speaks English with just 
enouo-h foreis^n accent to make his droll stories more 
amusing and enjoyable. 

Our baggage was loaded upon a cart drawn by four 
mules, abreast, which were managed by about a 
dozen retainers and servants of different degrees. Our 
road, all day for thirty miles, led us over a broken, hilly 
country, something like Central New York in appear- 
ance, and almost entirely devoted to cattle raising. 
The few small villages through which we passed were 
all inhabited by very poor people, of Indian descent, 
and the country generally seemed to be in keeping. 
The whole country is underlaid with ancient and par- 
tially decomposed lava, and the roads, though hard 
enough at the bottom, were fearfully rough. Our bag- 
gage-cart was repeatedly stalled or overturned, and one 
of the mules had his leg broken, and was tui-ned out to 
die by the roadside. 

A few miles out from Guadalajara, we crossed the 



158 ANCIENT BRIDGE OVER THE EIO GRANDE. 

Rio Grande de Santiago, the outlet of Lake Cliapala, 
upon a stone bridge of some nineteen arches. This 
bridge is one of the remarkable structures erected by 
the old Spaniards, and looks as if it might stand for 
many centuries more. At either end of the bridge are 
statues of the king and queen of Spain who were reign- 
ing when the bridge was erected, but so worn and de- 
faced by time as to be unrecognizable. The stone tab- 
lets on which the records of the erection and other facts 
about the bridge were engraved, have all been plastered 
over with cement to deface and destroy them, for some 
reason not apparent. The only date I could decipher 
was 1718, and that appeared to refer to a repair instead 
of the erection of the structure. No one living in the 
vicinity could give us any data concerning it. 

The falls of this river, a few miles below where we 
crossed, are said to compare, not unfavorably, with those 
of Niagara, but we did not see them. 

We staid at Zapotlanejo, a curious old town of four 
or five thousand inhabitants, on our first night out from 
Guadalajara. A deputation of the citizens, on horse- 
back, met us outside the town, and escorted us in. 
They are very poor, but wonderfully hospitable people. 
The houses have in many cases barricades upon the 
roofs, reminders of the former revolutions and inva- 
sions ; and the remarkable number of fair-haired and 
fair-skinned children to be seen on the streets, tell 
the same story. A fine band welcomed us, the citi- 
zens made speeches in the evening, and were an- 
swered by Mr. Seward ; and a concert by native Mexi- 
cans, all excellent players, the harper being blind, 
closed the evening's entertainment. The town has a 
fine old church, at present under repair, and stands 



SCENE OF hidalgo's DEFEAT. 159 

in a small but fertile valley, surrounded by cane, corn, 
and rice fields. We left Zapotlanejo on the morning of 
Oct. 27tli, to ride thirty- two miles to Tepotitlan, a 
town of from five to eigbt thousand people. Our roads 
liad been bad enough in all conscience before, but they 
grew worse and worse as we advanced, and the night 
rains grew heavier. This day's travel was the hardest 
we had yet experienced. 

Nine miles beyond Zapotlanejo we crossed the Bridge 
of Calderon, a stone structure, sj^anning a deep but 
narrow arroyo. It was here that the Padre Hidalgo, 
the Washington of Mexico, with eighty thousand men, 
all Indians, armed with bows and arrows, and a few 
wooden cannon which burst at the first fire, attacked 
the Spaniards, in January 1811. The Spaniards were 
not a tenth as strong, numerically, but they were well 
armed, and all the desperate valor and enthusiasm of 
the Indians went for naught. The poor fellows rushed 
up to the Spanish cannons and pushed theii* hats into 
them to prevent their going off. So little did they 
know of the use and power of artillery. They were 
mowed down by thousands, and broke and fled at last 
in utter rout, leaving Hidalgo to make his way to Chi- 
huahua, where he was betrayed into the hands of his 
enemies, sent to Guanajuato, tried, condemned, and exe- 
cuted. 

The soil in this vicinity is a dark red earth, which 
resembles that of the gold belt of the Sierra Nevada, 
and is tenacious to the last degree when wet up by the 
rains, and worked into brick material by the wheels of 
vehicles. We passed during this day, a poor little 
village at which the butcher Rojas captured eighty 
men — all the able-bodied male population of the vi- 



IGO 



UUTIEKKEZ, THE TElillOll OF JALISCO. 



cinity— and mui'dered tliein all in cold blood, some 
years since. 

One of the most fearful brutes who ever infested the 
roads of Jalisco, was Simon Gutierrez, whose band was 

exterminated by the 
State troops in the 
Spring of 1869. Gu- 
tierrez took refuge 
in the city of Gua- 
dalajara, and when 
his hiding place was 
discovered, (beneath 
a floor,) jumped into 
the middle of the 
troops, with a re- 
volver, and fought 
until they riddled 
him. His body was 
propped up in a chair 
and exhibited three 
days in front of the 
prison on the Plaza, 
as shown in the picture, and crowds went to see it and 
make sure that the terror of Jalisco, for so many years, 
was dead, indeed, at last. 

The poor people, all along the road, eke ont a misera- 
ble living by selling a few small fruits, frijoles, tortillas, 
etc. etc, to travelers. I found one old fellow sitting on 
a stone by the roadside, miles from any habitation, with 
about a half-bushel of the nasty, little fruit resembling 
our northern "mandrake," or May-apple, called the 
guava — pronounced " guyava " — from which the guava 
jelly of commerce is made. I asked him how much 




THE TEKKOK OF JALISCO. 



THE GEATEFUL MERCHANT. 



161 



he would take for his whole establishment, stock in 
trade, basket, plates, and all. After a nice calculation, 
he decided that it was worth all together fully twenty- 
five cents, I paid him the money and made him distrib- 
ute the fruit among the escort which just then came up ; 
there was about enough to give them all the cholic 
for a 




THE GRATEFTTL GUAVA MERCHANT. 



not the 

grande liombre from the Estados Unidos del Norte f I 
had not the heart to deny it ; then he fell on his knees, 
kissed my hand, and said that he had heard of me often, 
and now thanked God that he had been permitted to 
live to see me face to face. I had intended to break 
the plates and basket, and "bust up" the shop; but 
his devotion saved him, and I gave them back to him 
and made him a friend of the Americans for life. It is 
pleasant to do good at so small an expense. 

On our second night out from Guadalajara, we staid 
11 



162 THE ANCIENT TOWN OF TEPOTITLAN. 

at Tepotitlan. It was 9 o'clock in the evening when 
we entered this ancient town, escorted by the citizens 
with torches, while bells rang a tremendous peal, and 
a brass band played the national airs. We had a good 
dinner at the house of the curate of the town, and 
though our baggage did not arrive until two in the 
morning, we were provided with good beds and comfort- 
able quarters, furnished by these kind-hearted people. 
The city contains from five to six thousand j)eople and 
four churches. They repair the churches, and let 
everything else go to ruin. The people are mostly far- 
mers, in a small way, and very poor. This year their 
crops were nearly an ntter failure, and they appeared 
down-hearted. 

We found here an American physician, Dr. John 
Rush, nephew of the famous Philadelphia physician 
of that name, and R. E. Armstrong, a resident of San 
Francisco, traveling with his family for their health. 
Dr. Rush served as suigeon in the 1st West Tennessee 
(colored) Volunteers, during the Rebellion, under Gren. 
Thomas. The town has its plaza, with public fountains 
in the center, and all towns in this country have. The 
streets, once well paved, are going to ruin. 

Next morning, we drove until the middle of the 
day, over a poor, open, hilly, and mostly barren and 
uncultivated country, and then came in sight of the 
quaint, old city of Jalos, far below us in a tree-embow- 
ered valley. 

This is a well-built little city of six thousand inhab- 
itants, standing in a narrow Canada^ wholly hidden 
until you come upon the brow of the hill from which 
we first saw it. It has a magnificent old church, in 
fine repair, and many beautiful private residences. 



GEE AT EXCESS OF WOMEN. 163 

painted outside and inside in brilliant fresco. How 
the people all live I cannot imagine. As we entered 
tlie city the bells were ringing a joyous peal, and a 
band playing as usual. A fine house had been pre- 
pared for us upon the plaza, but as we did not pro- 
pose to remain over night, we drove on, and lunched 
privately at the residence of a fi-iend of Seiior Bossero. 
As we passed through the streets a large party of 
school-boys met us, and at a sign from one of their 
number, all went down on their knees, on the cobbles, 
holding theii' hats in their hands. 

The people, as we advanced eastward, became more 
white, and blue eyes and fair hair were not uncom- 
mon. The number of women was vastly in excess of 
the men, and, of course, lawful marriage is out of the 
question with the great number of the poor girls of 
the towns. They are human, and, as they cannot 
marry, is it a wonder that they sin ? Nearly every 
girl among the lower orders, from fourteen years old 
upward, whom we saw as we passed along, had a 
child in her arms. I never saw so little corn, and so 
many children to the acre. 

That night, we staid at Venta de Los Pagarros, 
twenty-four miles from Tepotitlan. Senor Perez, the 
owner of this great Imcieiida^ which is twenty miles 
long, and has forty thousand head of stock upon it, 
has owned the property two years He bought 
it when nobody else dared occupy it on account of the 
robbers. His house is literally a fortress, impregnable 
to all but heavy artillery. He organized his neighbors 
at once into a military corps, and commenced a war of 
extermination against the robbers. In an hour, he can 
rally two hundred well-armed men, and as soon as a 



164 



GEEAT OENTKAL PLATEAU OF MEXICO. 



band is lieard of, they start for tliem, liunt them down, 
and slioot them all like dogs, making no prisoners. In 
this way he has restored peace to the neighborhood. 




VENTA DE LOS PAGAKKOS. 



and is building np a town around him, already. He 
and his band have killed about eighty robbers within 
two years. 

From this point the country grows still more broken, 
being cut up with deej) arroyos^ canons and harrancas. 
The mountains in the distance are nearly all bare of 
timber, save a few mesquite trees, and the country has 
the general appearance of Western Texas along the 
southern edge of the great Llano Estacado. We 
were now ascending all the time, and had reached 
an altitude of about six thousand feet above the sea. 
We had left the orange, palm, banana, and other fruits, 
and all the flowers of the tropics behind us, and were 
upon the Great Central Plateau of Mexico. The 



ST. JOHN OF THE LAKES. 165 

scenery is mostly tame, and tlie country poor, and com- 
paratively uninteresting. 

Just as a heavy shower came upon us, we met the 
deputation of mounted citizens fi'om San Juan de Los 
Lagos or " St. John of the Lakes," and dashing doT\Ti a 
long, Avinding, well-paved grade, into a deep cauada, 
and over a high, well-built stone bridge, entered that 
substantial-looking city. A splendid house was pro- 
vided for the company, and, as usual, we found that 
the family, having placed it at our disposal, had left it 
entirely themselves. 

The District Judge, a young man, apparently of 
twenty-five years, who has the power of life and death 
over forty thousand people — there is no jury system 
here, and no appeal in criminal cases, though sentence 
of death jDassed by him must be confirmed by the Su- 
preme Court of Mexico before it is finally executed — 
with the Political Prefect, and others, was in attend- 
ance to welcome Mr. Seward, and to see that the party 
wanted nothing. They told us that they had shot 
many robbers of late, but that there were still a num- 
ber of very skillful ones in the vicinity. 

Here and at Jalos, for the first time, we saw fences 
made on the simplest possible plan, from the great w- 
gano cactus. This cactus is eight-sided, and shoots up 
straight as an arrow, from ten to twenty-five feet in 
height, and five to eight inches in thickness. They cut 
the cactus into sections of the risrht leno;th, stick the 
cut end into a trench, cover the dirt around it to the 
depth of a foot, and the fence is made. The pieces are 
set as closely together as possible, and, as they take 
root and grow for centuries, the fence improves with 
age, instead of going to decay like other fences. The 



166 



GEEAT CHURCH OF SAN JUAN. 



nopal or prickly pear grows to perfection here, and tlie 
aloe or century plant, as well, or better, than in the 
tierra caUente. The town stands in a deep Canada, 
and a few inferior orange trees grow in the court-yards 
on the sunny side. Wheat grows well in this vicinity, 
and the flour, too, is excellent, almost equal to that of 
California, and much superior to that of the Atlantic 
States. 

Looking up from the plaza, I gazed in silent admira- 
tion at the mao-nificent 
cathedral finished 
within one week of 
one hundred years 
before — they were 
makingthe most exten- 
sive preparations for 
celebrating the centen- 
nial anniversaiy — and 
the finest I had seen in 
Mexico, not even ex. 
cepting that of Gua. 
dalajara. Its two 
graceful towers, 
wrought and carved 
with elaborate rich- 
nes?!, to the very sum- 
mit, from the beautiful 
pink lava rock of which the whole structure is built, are 
each two hundred and ten feet in height, and the main 
building is two hundred and ten feet long. The grand 
dome is covered with brilliant tiles in mosaic, and the 
vaulted roof, of solid masonry, is at least seventy-five 
feet above the floor. 




CHUKCH OF SAN JUAN. 



WHAT I SAW IN IT. 167 

In tlie basement, I descended eight wide stone steps, 
all cut from a single piece of stone, and in the sacristy 
saw the tomb of the projector of the cathedral, who 
died four years before its completion, and numer- 
ous magnificent and valuable old paintings. One 
is a picture of the Virgin, which perfoiTiis mii'acles 
daily. Around this picture are hundreds of votive of- 
ferings, in the shape of others, illustrating the miracles 
performed by the Virgin in behalf of the persons offering 
them. Some of these were ludicrous in the extreme. 

Entering the main building, I saw graceful columns 
in pale green and gold, supporting the fretted arched 
roof in the same colors, a magnificent altar in marble 
and silver, a chapel with a shrine of silver, and count- 
less pictures and images, and decorations of barbaric 
richness. The rich notes of a superb organ resounded 
through the building, priests in gorgeous vestments 
mumbled the morning services, and incense filled the 
air. Gold and silver, satin and gilding, met the eye on 
every side, and the scene at first glance was one of be- 
wildering beauty. 

But I looked around me and saw men and women, 
barefooted and in rags, come creeping over the wet 
flagging of the wide yard, and down the long aisle 
upon their knees, some of them carrying lighted can- 
dles to offer at the shrine in fulfilhnent of vows made 
when the assistance of the Virgin was greatly needed, 
or groveling on the flagging at the doors ; and I glanced 
from the sleek priests, who take in sixty thousand dol- 
lars per annum from votive offerings, to the poor 
wretches who toil for it and give it, and I went out 
with more of bitterness than satisfaction in my heart. 

At the door I saw a conspicuously posted list of 



168 LAGOS AND ITS CHUECIIES. 

tlie names of those who had durine the month offered 
wax-candles at the shrine. Four-fifths of those who 
offered these candles and paid the price, had tortillas 
plain, or an ear of boiled corn for their dinner, dirty 
rags for clothing, and the earth for a bed. God 
be thanked, the last great temple of any faith has been 
built on earth jfrom the sweat and blood of the toiling 
millions, and these things shall not be for all time. 

From San Juan de los Lagos we proceeded, on the 
30th of October, to Lagos, thirty-six miles eastward to- 
ward Guanajuato, arriving at 5 p. m. Here we had in- 
tended to remain all night and go on at sunrise ; but 
of the three carts conveying our bedding and extra 
luggage, only one got through before morning, the oth- 
ers being out all night in a driving rain, and stuck fast, 
in the mud and darkness. This delayed us so that we 
were compelled to pass the day in the handsome house 
which the citizens, who met us in carriages outside the 
city, had placed at the disposal of the party. 

The city of Lagos has a population of all hues and 
ages, estimated at eighteen thousand, and of course 
supports half a dozen churches, whose bells keep up 
an incessant ding-donging from morning to night. The 
finest of these is the Parochial Church, an immense 
structure, larger even than the cathedral at San Juan de 
los Lagos, built on the same plan, and only second to it 
in costliness and elegance. It was founded. in 1784, and 
the sj^ires of cut stone, like those at San Juan, are as 
yet only two-thirds finished ; they are still at work 
upon them. The interior is exquisitely beautiful, with 
pale blue and gold ceilings, carvings and statuary, tiled 
floor, and vaulted fretwork roof The congregation, as- 
sembled at the early morning mass, are even more 



A WELL-PRESERVED ROaiAN. 169 

ragged and devout tlian tliat at San Juan ; hardly a 
single representative of tlie richer and better educated 
classes being present. 

The specialty of this chui'ch is its Saint. I forget 
his name, but the record posted on the walls shows 
that he was a Roman soldier who suffered martyrdom 
for his faith (Christian, of course, though that is not 
stated,) in Rome, so the record affirms. His body was 
found by mii-acle, A. D., 901, preserved as if he were 
but just defanct, and he was canonized as a saint. 

From Rome the body was carried to Spain, and from 
thence brought to Lagos and placed on the altar with 
the Bishop's own hands eighty years ago. The ])ody is 
inclosed in a magnificent casket about five feet long, by 
three broad, and fom* high, vn.th sides of glass, and 
corners and top of richly gilded metal. As a special 
favor to Mr. Seward, the doors before the casket, as it 
stands in the wall, were opened, and we went up and 
looked into it, while hundreds of awe-stricken worship- 
ers knelt and crossed themselves in silent adoration. 

From a close inspection of this remarkably well-pre- 
served specimen, I am able to draw the following con- 
clusions : Fii'st, that the ancient Roman soldiers were 
about four feet, eight or nine inches in height — not over 
five feet — allowing a fair margin for shrinkage ; second, 
that they had no beard, and their faces were as delicate 
as that of a girl ; third, that they had wax teeth, fin- 
ger and toe-nails, and cuticle on hands, face, and shins, 
and wore gilt pasteboard tunics, and coats of mail, silk 
stockings, and fancy bootees. I respect every man's 
religion, and mean no disrespect for this illustrious de- 
ceased as a saint, but as a soldier I cannot refrain from 
the remark, that if he was in life a fair specimen of the 



170 



SCENES IN THE MARKET PLACE. 



Roman troops, I would back tlie National Guard, Capt. 
Ben Pratt, of San Francisco, or the MacMahon Guard, 
Gen. Cazneau, of the same place, to give odds and 
knock the starch out of the entire phalanx. Of course 
such men could as bravely die for their faith as if they 
weighed three hundred pounds, and measured six feet 
two inches in their stocking-feet, each ; nevertheless, I 
am no longer surprised at the ovei'throw of Rome by 
the Goths and Vandals, since I have seen what kind of 
fighting stock they had. 

One thing is apparent in these churches of Central 
Mexico, at the first glance, viz, : that the people who 
come there to worship are in earnest, and not hypocrites 
or doubters. They accept the whole faith as it is taught 
them, without hesitation or mental reservation, and 
never seek to evade its responsibilities, or hide the fact 
of their faith when in the presence of unbelievers. For 
that I honor them above many of my own countrymen 
and countrywomen. 

Sunday is the great market-day in Lagos, and no 
sooner is morning service over than the two plazas and 
the streets between them swarm with buyers and sell- 
ers. Venders of peanuts, peppers, yams, vegetables, 
bread, tortillas, and fruits of all descriptions, raise enor- 
mous umbrellas, in shape exactly like those of the Chi- 
nese, covered with matting, and ten or twelve feet 
across, upon stout poles, spread out their little stocks 
on the pavement, and hour after hour cry their wares, 
announcing in a loud voice how much of any given 
thing they sell for a claquo or quartilla, a cent or three 
cents. Earthenware, charcoal, sugar, salt, and other 
goods are sold in one plaza, dry goods in another, and 
beef in little shops on a street between the two. Men 



A MULISH FREAK. 171 

witli piles of rehosas on their shoulders, walk up and 
down among the crowd, and others, with brilliant-hued 
serapes and ponchos, hang their goods against the walls, 
while young girls and old women, nearly all with in- 
fants at their breasts, sit on the curb-stones and sell hot 
soups, etc., from jars, for half a cent a bowl. 

We left Lagos Nov. 1, for a thirty-six mile ride to 
Leon, being led to expect a fine ride and easy trip. To 
cut oif three or four blocks, the di-iver avoided the fine 
new bridge and drove directly into the river, which 
came up to the body of the stage and was quite rapid 
and broad. The mules, suspicious of the security of the 
bottom, baulked in the middle of the stream, and not 
all the lashing by a half dozen volunteer cocheros and 
postilions, and curses and blasphemy enough to sink a 
ship, would start them a foot. We were taken off in 
boats, and no sooner were we landed than we saw the 
pig-headed mules start up of their own free will and 
walk majestically ashore. Perhaps their hides did not 
suffer for that fi-eak. 

Then we entered a broad alameda lined with immense 
trees of the variety known farther north as the Califor- 
nia pepper tree, but here as the Peruvian, which has 
drooping limbs and foliage, giving it the graceful ap- 
pearance of the weeping willow, and is at this season 
covered with long clusters of bright red berries which 
inclose the pungent black pepper grains. This alameda 
is flanked by ditches inclosing cultivated fields, which 
are higher than the road. Of course we found it a river 
of mud and water, and almost impassable. 

We had not gone a mile before we found our three 
luggage cars which had started before daylight all down 
in the mud and unloaded. Pleasant prospect indeed ! 



172 ARRIVAL AT LEON. 

After more tlian three miles of floundering in the mud, 
running along the embankments, and clunbing in and 
out of the stage, we reached higher gi'ound at noon, 
and went on more comfortably, over an open, rolling 
country wholly devoted to stock raising, until we 
reached the boundary of the State of Jalisco, and en- 
tered the State of Guanajuato, nine miles from Leon. 

Just at this point, we saw a body of troops moving 
along the road in advance of us. When they discov- 
ered us, they made off at fall speed and disapjDeared. 
A mile fru'ther on, I saw some of them peej^ing at us 
from behind a stone wall, and we subsequently learned 
that in order to give an appearance of perfect safety, to 
the road — our regular escort left us at Lagos, and re- 
turned to Guadalajara — ^they had been instructed to 
keep out of our sight entirely, and we were to travel 
through the State of Guanajuato without any apparent 
escort. 

Seven miles from Leon we came out upon the summit 
of a ran2:e of broken hills, and looked down into a 
lovely valley, highly cultivated, filled with fields of 
green, growing grain, and tall ripe maize, and dotted 
here and there with rich and beautiful, white-walled 
haciendas. 

Entering the city, we found, for the first time in our 
journey, no deputation with carriages waiting to re- 
ceive the party, and drove directly to the magnificent 
house just finished and beautifully furnished for the oc- 
casion — fronting on the grand plaza — which had been 
prepared for us. The Prefecto Politico of Leon, Col. 
Rosado, and a deputation of the ayuntamiento, called 
at once to say that they had not received the telegram 
annoimcing the departure of Mr. Seward from Lagos, 



THE CITY AND THE PEOPLE. 173 

and tliat we had arrived many hours sooner than ex- 
pected, which accounted for the apparent neglect to send 
out caiTiages to meet the coach. 

This city, dming the war, under the wise administra- 
tion of Gen. Doblado who tolerated all classes who 
obeyed the laws, iiTespective of Kepublican or Imperi- 
alist tendencies, gained largely in population, and is 
now one of the most prosperous, or least unprosperous 
towns in the country. The population of the city 
proper is eighty-two thousand, or two thousand more 
than that of Guadalajara, and the smaller towns in the 
suburbs swell the population of the municipality to one 
hundred thousand or more. There are very few rich 
families, most of the people being tradesmen, boot-mak- 
ers, saddlers, hat-makers, rebosa and serape weavers, 
workers in metal, etc., etc. There are many pure white 
families, and the average complexion of the population 
is much lighter than in the towns nearer the Pacific 
coast. 

The country around has been much afflicted mth 
robbers, but Col. Eosado, acting vigorously in conjunc- 
tion with other State and Federal authorities, is fast 
thinning them out. Only a month or two since he dis- 
covered the existence of a band of seventy of these 
gentry in a cave near the road to Guanajuato, tele- 
graphed to the three principal towns in the vicinity, or- 
ganized a simultaneous attack upon them, and captured 
them all at a blow. He took his share of the captives 
to Leon, and tried and shot them ; but those taken to 
some of the other towns were, after some ceremony, set 
free, probably to resume the practice of their profession. 

The town appears very orderly, and is well and com- 
pactly built. It has some old convent buildings, now 



174 DISCOUNTING A MIRACLE. 

converted into free scliools, and one immense cliurcli, 
and several minor ones. I was disappointed in these 
cliurclies. Tlie largest lias beautiful colored glass me- 
morial windows, the pictures being of the highest grade 
of merit, and many rich paintings, but otherwise it 
does not equal that at San Juan de los Lagos, and the 
others are comparatively poor affairs, very old, and not 
in the best of repair. 

Apropos of churches, I must relate an incident which 
recently occurred here. Two robbers had been arrested 
by the authorities, and they — the robbers — threw 
themselves upon the protection of the new saint of the 
place, for whose canonization sixty thousand dollars in 
coin, wi'ung from the hard and stinted earnings of the 
laboring poor had just been forwarded by the Bishop 
of Leon to Rome, who, probably from a fellow-feeling, 
and possibly old association, so interested himself in 
their behalf, that the hearts of the authorities were 
moved and they were discharged without trial. The 
priests at once seized upon this fact as a miracle, and 
played for all there was on the board. They issued a 
pamphlet or tract, setting forth the details of the miracle, 
and rudely illustrated for the edification of the faithful. 
But, alas, they had crowed before they were fairly out 
of the woods, and the result was discouraging. Col. 
Rosado, who is an educated man, and appears to have 
a prejudice against saints and highway robbers being 
allowed to work together, immediately re-arrested the 
two robbers, tried, convicted, and shot them, thus 
spoiling the miracle, and causing the impression to go 
abroad in the community that even sixty thousand dol- 
lar saints will not always do to gamble on. 

When we entered Leon, the Feast of All-Saints was 



THE FEAST OF ALL-SAINTS, 173 

in full blast. The plaza is large and very beautiful, 
being surrounded by a liandsome iron railing, flanked 
witli tall, heavy-foliaged fresno trees, and paved with 
little cobbles in a beautiful mosaic, filled with beautiful 
flowers, and lias a very large and elegant fountain in 
the center. The municipal palace, the handsomest 
building of the kind, exteriorly, which we had seen in 
Mexico, and other public buildings, and rows of stores 
with broad-arched portals, front this plaza. During 
the feast the broad sidewalk around the plaza is wholly 
given up to the sale of articles peculiar to the occasion. 
It is the custom of the country to distribute bon-bons, 
confectionery made into every conceivable form in imi- 
tation of birds, beasts, fishes, men, angels, de%als, <fec., 
<fec., richly gilded and elaborately ornamented, among 
all one's friends, and especially among the children. 
Around the entire plaza was a row of stalls constnicted 
of light matting and cloth, tastefully decorated with 
colored curtains and flowers, devoted exclusively to the 
sale of this confectionery and dulces^ and attended by 
women old and young. Beyond the sidewalk was 
another row of stalls devoted to the sale of wax-candles 
of all lengths from six inches to six feet for offerings 
at the church altars. 

When evening set in, the crowd which surged around 
the plaza became so dense that it was almost impossi- 
ble to pass through it, and when the lamps were lighted, 
and the military band played its most inspiring airs, 
the scene, as we looked down upon it from the balcony 
of our house, was the most animated and brilliant we 
had ever seen in Mexico. At about 9^ p. m. the com- 
mon and partly- dressed people began to thin out, and 
the richer and more pretentious came in to make their 



176 LEON BY LAMP- LIGHT. 

purcliases, sit on tlie benches, or promenade tip and 
down. In company witli Mr. Burgess, an American 
pliotogra^^lier resident here, Mr. Fitcli and myself walked 
aronnd in the crowd for some time. The booth-keepers 
cried their wares — fair women, old men and women, 
and children in rags or tastefully dressed, walked up 
and down, young men in broad somhreros and gorgeous 
serapes lounged around in groups, beggar^, blind, rag- 
ged, filthy, and hideous, groveled on the pavement of 
the street and yelled forth their wants, and incessantly 
discoursed on the blessedness of giving in charity; 
while the church bells sent forth their clangor imtil the 
whole air was filled with a surging ocean of sound. 

We were lost in the crowd, and admii'ation of the 
scene. Just then a party of tall young men, hustled 
us, and I, having had doubt, from the start, of the safety 
of money and valuables, which to a considerable extent 
I carried on my person, got on the outside. Unsus- 
pecting Mr. Fitch, conscious of his own rectitude, and 
suspecting no one else, kept on a few seconds, and then 
suddenly discovered that the pocket in the skirt of his 
coat behind had been cut out, and he was minus a 
handkerchief, two pair of old kid gloves, and a pocket 
guide to Spanish conversation, which, if it proves as 
great a curse to the thief as it had been to the owner, 
will have a tendency to cause him to abstain from 
stealing for the remainder of his life. Our party ad- 
journed at once to the house, determined to retire for 
the night in the best order possible. 

Next morning I went out alone, and foimd the church- 
es, as usual, filled with devout worshipers — even the 
pavement outside was covered with kneeling devotees. 
At one of them the janitor was just passing around a 



CHAEITT MISCONSTRUED. 177 

deep copper plate, in whicli lie had collected about a 
quart oi claquos and quartillas ; there was not a single 
silver or gold coin in the lot. As he looked significant- 
ly at me, I dropped an American dime into the plate. 
Looking back a few minutes later, I saw him standing 
by the corner of the church, outside, biting the dime, 
and regarding me with evident suspicion. He undoubt- 
edly thought that I had been palming counterfeit coin on 
the Church. I do not allow any man to misinterpret 
my motives, and henceforth I give nothing but copper. 
The city of Leon is compactly built, and in all the 
central part of the town the inhabitants cultivate flow- 
ers in the patios or court-yards, and more especially 
upon terraces and on the roofs of their houses. From 
the observatory upon our house I looked down upon 
the city, and saw one vast garden of brilliant flowers, 
thus cultivated in tall urns of fancifally fashioned earth- 
enware. Such, on a larger scale, were the famous 
" Hanging Gardens " of Nineveh. The custom is a pleas- 
ant one, and greatly contributes to the enjoyment of 
life in a crowded city. Leon has about the climate of 
San Francisco at this season — the first of November — 
and the average temperature here is said to be from 
sixty to eighty degrees all the year round. The finest 
tropical fruits do not flourish here, but oranges, and 
some other fruits, such as are cultivated with success 
in the vicinity of Los Angelos, California, grow in 
great luxuriance. 

As I have previously stated, we had left our military 
escort behind at Lagos, in the State of Jalisco, Senor 
Bossero having been assured by telegraph that the 
road was perfectly secure. Eighteen miles from Leon 

we stopped to change mules, and Mr. Seward, Mr. Fitch, 
12 



1V8 NAEEOW ESCAPE FEOM BANDITS. 

and Mr. Burgess, wlio had accompanied us from Leon, 
were walking a mile or thereabouts in advance, not 
suspecting any danger, while I rode forward upon a sad- 
dle-horse loaned me by Mr. Burgess. The stage had 
been delayed by our first upset, which had no more 
serious consequences than the landing of Mr. Seward's 
colored servant in a nice, healthy nopal, or prickly -pear 
plant, the spines of which will stay with him long after 
his return to the United States, and we were some fifteen 
or twenty minutes behind time. 

Just then we saw a detachment of Mexican cavalry, 
some twenty-five in number, coming toward us. When 
they saw the party they ranged themselves in double 
line to salute. We had almost reached them when one 
of their number, who had been scouting along in a 
corn-field, some distance from the road, raised a shout, 
and in an instant the whole party dashed off' into the 
corn at full gallop, unslinging their carbines ready for 
action as they went. I rode after them, anxious to find 
out the cause of this sudden stampede, and saw one of 
them rise up like a circus-rider and stand upright on 
his saddle. He descried something in another direc- 
tion, and with a yell, the squad changed its course and 
dashed off with redoubled speed. A few minutes 
later I saw a party of men in dark clothing, running 
over a high ridge a mile away beyond a ravine, making 
for a timbered mountain in the south-west, and in five 
minutes more the white caps of the troops could be 
seen darting in and out among the mesquite trees in 
close pursuit. 

We watched them until they disappeared in the dis- 
tance, and then rode on, saying little, but each " think- 
ing a heap." Had the stage not been delayed by the 



TIIE MINES or LALUZ. 179 

upset, or liad the soldiers arrived fifteen niinutes later 

well, I will not pursue tlie subject further, as it is 

unprofitable ; but if we did not have a narrow escape 
from falling into the hands of the party of high-toned 
gentlemen who were laying for us in that corn-field, I 
am a sinner. I am always grateful for hospitalities, 
but in this case, am more than willing to take the 
will for the deed. As I saw the flying handito and 
the pursuing troops disappear, I, for the first time, 
fully appreciated the force of the quotation: 

" Tis distance lends enchantment to the view." 

All day we were in sight of the range of treeless 
mountains, on the summit of which are situated the 
famous mines of La Luz, which occupy a position 
not unlike that of those on the the top of Treasure 
Hill, at Treasure City, in the White Pine district, 
Nevada. We could see vast piles of quartz, probably 
low grade ores, upon the mountain side. These ores, 
hundreds of thousands of tons in amount, cannot 
now be worked to advantage, owing to the heavy 
taxes on bullion, and to the cost of heneficiating 
them; but in time they will yield a vast amount of 
treasure under more favorable circumstances. The 
mountains in which the silver mines of Guanajuato 
are situated, resemble those in which the famous Com- 
stock Lead of Nevada is found, and the situation of 
the City of Guanajuato is not unlike that of Virginia 
City, and Gold Hill, the elevation being not less than 
five or six thousand feet, apparently, above the level of 
the sea. 

On our road to Siloa, and when still some miles 
from the town, we saw a party of laborers from some 
of the little hamlets which dot the country around, 



180 A TOUOHINO AND CHAEACTEEISTIC SCENE. 

carrying a sick and dying man in a litter to tlie to^vn 
that lie miglit receive spiritual consolation in his last 
moments. They were all e\ddently of the humbler 
class, but neatly and cleanly dressed, and the delicate 
care with which they bore their dying companion along 
the rough and toilsome road w^as touching to observe. 
The day was very hot, and the labor of carrying the 
heavy litter by no means a trifling one ; but each quietly 
took his place and assisted to bear the burden when 
his turn came without a word, and while a part were 
sustaining the load upon their shoulders, the others 
fanned the sufferer or held water to his parched and fe- 
verish lips. Probably each man in the party had lost 
a day's labor which he was ill able to spare, and con- 
tributed something from his scanty means besides, 
towards defraying the expenses of making the last 
hours of their friend and companion as comfortable as 
possible. 

This kindness and consideration for the sick and un- 
fortunate is characteristic of the people of Mexico, and 
notably so of the humbler classes. The poorest family 
in the land, will share its last meal with the sick or the 
stranger, and when there is not a mouthfal of food in 
the house — as is too often the case — will still give you 
" a cup of cold water in the name of Jesus," and some 
kind words of regret and apology for not being able 
to do more. 

- Passing through the dilapidated old town of Salado, 
or Siloa (pronounced Salow,) where we saw a church 
bearing an inscription which shows that it was erected 
in 1739, when New York contained fifteen thousand 
people, we entered the foot-hills of the mountains of 
Guanajuato. 



CHAPTER yil. 

GUANAJUATO, AND BENEATH IT. i 

LJ^ROM a lieight tliree miles from the City of Guana- 
juato, just as tlie sun was sinking behind the moun- 
tains in the west, we looked down on what appeared to 
be thi'ee separate towns situated in a deep ravine or 
call on. The tall spires of the Cathedral of Guanajuato, 
glowing like gold in the red sunlight, were the con- 
sj)icuous featui'e of the main and central city. Enter- 
ing the canon, we rode for two miles along the narrow 
bed of a tortuous little stream, whose waters, having 
done duty in all the silver redu'ction or heneficiaUng 
haciendas of the district, were clogged and thick with 
the residuum of the pulverized quartz which they were 
bearing away into the valley. 

The town of Marfil, which is wholly supported by 
the beneficiating works which constitute its sole indus- 
try, lines the banks of this stream on either side, and 
the different haciendas, each of which is surrounded by 
a high wall, and capable of being defended against at- 
tack by a strong force, give it the appearance of one 
vast fortress. The houses are all hidden by the walls, 
which come down to the bed of the stream, and we 
hardly saw a human being in all this ride. 

Passing, at last, an ancient tower, of a quaint pat- 
tern, constructed by the Spaniards for raising water, 
looking like a relic of the days of the Crusaders, we 



182 THE TRIPLE CITY. 

arrived at the lower portion of tlie city of Guanajuato, 
and found a delegation of officers waiting, with car. 
riasfes, to escort Mr. Seward to the mao-nificent new 
house, completely furnished throughout, which had 
been prepared for the reception of the party. The 
keys were handed to him as soon as we had entered, 
and the committee then, considerately, bid us good- 
night, and left us to dine and retire to rest. 

Guanajuato impressed us with an idea of permanence 
and comparative prosperity rather unusual in this part 
of the country, in spite of its greatly reduced popula- 
tion, its languishing industries, and its suburban mining 
towns deserted and tumbling into ruins. It has many 
beautiful private residences, which cannot be excelled in 
comfort, extent, and elegance, in any part of the United 
■'';$tates, and many still wealthy and aristocratic families 
of pure, or nearly pure, Castilian descent. The city, 
proper, runs along on the steep hill-sides on either side 
of a very narrow and tortuous ravine or caiion over a 
mile in length ; and the streets are narrow, crooked, 
and very steep. There are only two streets at the bot- 
tom of the cafion Avhich admit of a carriage being driven 
over them at any speed, although all of them are most 
beautifully paved with small cobbles, generally in mo- 
saic. The houses on the back streets, of course, rise 
above each other in successive terraces, like stairs, and 
each, in turn, affords a fine view of the back-yards and 
private portions of the residences next below. 

At the upper end of the canon, Senor Rocha, one of 
the oldest residents of Guanajuato, a few years since, 
built three large dams of solid masonry, beautifully 
constructed and tastefully ornamented, to collect the 
waters of the little stream which trickles down there 



SEN OK EOCHA AND HIS RESERVOIRS. 



183 



fi'om the mountain side ; and from the reservoirs thus 
created, the people of the entire city, and mills below 
are supplied. At the commencement of the rainy sea- 
son, in June, the flood-gates are opened, and the pent 
up waters which have been accumulating for a year, are 
allowed to flow- out in a rushing river, which surges 
through the canon, and washes everything clean, be- 
fore it ; the reservoirs are then cleansed and repaired. 
Here for the first time in Mexico, we missed the women 
at the plaza 
fountai n s , , 
and t h e I 
donke y- || 
driving " 
water-carri- 
er s , and;: 
drew fi*esh 
water from 
the hy- 
drants. 

S e n o r 
Rochahasa 
concessi o n 
for the sup- 
plying of 
the 



'to 

city 
with water 




THE KESEBVOIRS AND PROMENADE. 



for twenty 

years, and will be able to repay himself for his vast 
outlay. He has also built terraced promenades and 
seats all around the reservoirs, and thus fui-nished Gu- 
anajuato wdth one of the great requisites of a Mexi- 
can city, a place of social public resort for its po])uhv 



184 EL BUFF A. 

tion at evening and morning ; lie has fine natural taste, 
and has made the peculiar architecture best fitted for 
this country and climate, a thorough study ; and when- 
ever he sees a man about to build a house of any pre- 
tension, he at once offers to superintend its entire con- 
struction, free of charge. 

Above the city, not far from the reservoirs, is a pecu- 
liar, high mountain, crovs^^ned with a curious perpendicu- 
lar rock, which, fi'om its fancied resemblance to the out- 
lines of a giant buffalo, has been christened " El Buffa." 
From this mountain is procured, in unlimited quantities, 
a species of lined, and beautifully variegated sandstone, 
of all the colors of the rainbow — blue, pale green, and 
chocolate predominating. The sandstone cuts readily, 
has a fine grain, and is the best material for private 
residences and public buildings imaginable. With 
this, and in this way, Senor Rocha has lined the sides 
of the caiion all the way up to the reservoirs, with resi- 
dences of the most beautiful style. Graceful pillars in 
long colonnades, arched portals, and corridors and patos 
decorated with all the flowers of this prolific climate, 
are seen by the delighted traveler on every side. 
Surely, this fine, old, Mexican gentleman is a public 
benefactor in the largest sense of the term. 

For three centuries, Guanajuato furnished the world 
with an almost uninterrupted stream of silver, and in 
spite of wars and dissensions, crude and primitive sys- 
tems of mining and reduction, oppressive taxes and 
general mismanagement, her mines of incredible wealth 
still pour out millions annually. 

Early in the present century, Humboldt visited this 
city, and described the mines of the district more fully 
and scientifically than I am caj)able of doing ; his de- 



THE SILVER MINES OF GUANAJUATO. 185 

scription will still liold good in the main, and I refer 
tlie reader to it. I was told, that the mine owners — as 
is somewhat customary in all countries and all ages — 
imposed upon him in many particulars — and that the 
figures which he gave, are not to be trusted ; but for 
reasons, which can only be guessed, I find that it is still 
impossible to obtain any more exact data concerning 
the yield of particular mines, even at this day. The 
records are usually imperfect at best, and there is a 
natural desire not to allow the public a full insight into 
the workings and value of particular mines. If a mine 
is paying well, it is always popularly supposed that it 
is really paying much better than reported ; and if not 
paying at all_, it is probably for sale, and the best pos- 
sible showing is made. 

In 1852, the annual yield of the mines of this dis- 
trict was estimated at nine million dollars, of which 
one-tenth was gold and the remainder silver. It is now 
only a little more than four million dollars ; but with 
peace, and a judicious investment of capital, it could 
be doubled, or even trebled, very speedily. The popu- 
lation meantime has fallen off probably fifty per cent, 
and the city now contains only forty-five or fifty thou- 
sand people at the outside estimate. 

General Florencio Antillon, Governor of Guanajuato, 
to whom I am indebted for many courtesies, fiu'nished 
me with some interesting statistics. From them I 
learned that the present population of the state is seven 
hundi-ed and twenty-nine thousand, nine hundred and 
eighty-eight. This is, in proportion to its size, the 
most densely populated state of the Repulic. There 
are six hundred prisoners in the state-prison, at Sala- 
manca, or one hundred and fifty less than in the Cali- 



186 STATISTICS OF THE STATE. 

fornia state-prison, with a population fifty per cent, 
greater. The state forces, under pay, consist of one 
battalion of the line of four hundred and seventy-nine 
men, and four squadrons of mounted gendarmes — in all 
nine hundred and eighty-eight men. These belong to 
the National Guard, and are always on duty on the 
road or in the Municipalities. There are also four 
hundred members of the National Guard not on active 
duty and pay, and three hundred and ninety-four more 
doing duty at intervals, and liable to be called out at a 
moment's notice. The guard of the Department of 
Guanajuato, is now being armed with Henry rifles 
from the United States, but the others still have the 
old English Tower, and the Springfield muskets of 
1860-63. 

There are two hundred and eight students in the free 
college. The ft-ee schools cost ninety-four thousand 
dollars per annum, and are well attended. They have 
day and evening schools connected with the primary 
department for boys and girls separately, and High 
Schools intermediate between them and the colleges. 
The old debt of the state, January 1st, 1868, was fifty- 
eight thousand eight hundred and three dollars and ten 
cents. The income of the state in 1868, fr^om all sour- 
ces, was seven hundred and fifty -nine thousand one hun- 
dred and seventy-tAvo dollars and nineteen cents, and 
the expenses, seven hundred and forty-eight thousand 
thirty-six dollars and fifty-five cents. 

The condition of the state, in spite of the depression 
of its leading interest, silver mining, seems to be com- 
paratively good, and its credit well maintained. 

A substantial, well macadamized, carriage-road is-now 
being built from Queretaro to Leon, running entirely 



GOVERNOR ANTILLON. 



187 



tlirougli tlie State of Guanajuato, from Soutli-east to 
North-west, under the direction of Gilberto Ton-es, a 
native Mexican Engineer, formerly in the United States 
Coast Sui'vey, on the California Coast. This road is to 
be 216 miles long, and will cost the incredibly small sum 
of $316 per mile, including the erection of several sub- 
stantial stone bridges already comj^leted. 

Governor Antillon, who is a man of splendid personal 
appearance, tall, handsome 
and intelligent, was a com- 
mander in the Republican 
army during the war. His 
reputation as an executive 
officer is excellent, and the 
State is said to be one of 
the best governed in Mex- 
ico. He is vi g o r o u s 1 y 



shooting the " road-agents 




GE]SrEli.Uj FLOKJi^AClU AjnIIlLON. 



or highwaymen, and al- 
ready the roads in all parts 
of the State are comparatively safe for travelers, and 
will soon be quite so. If the duties on the production 
of silver could be reduced fifty per cent, on what they 
now are, the quantity would very largely increase, 
and the State and Federal Governments would both 
be largely benefited by it. The climate, generally, 
throughout the State is about that of Southern Califor- 
nia, and as healthy as the climate of any part of the 
United States. 

We visited the Mint of Guanajuato, said to be the 
best in the Republic, and the only one which is worked 
by* steam. Its machinery is on the English plan, and 
English made, and the mint is run, under contract, by 



188 THE MINT. 

an Euglisli company. The Treasurer of the mint, Se- 
rior Don Juan B. Castelazo, an intelligent and highly- 
educated Mexican, who speaks English well, showed 
us throus^h the establishment. From him we learned 
that the annual coinage of the mint is $4,000,000, of 
which $500,000 is gold and the remainder silver. The 
old silver coinage was dollars, half-dollars, quarters, 
reals, (12 1-2 cts.) medios, (6 1-4 cts.) and quartillas, 
(3 1-8 cts.) and this is the common currency of the 
country, though the old copper or brass claquos and 
quartillas still circulate extensively. The Governor 
has now j)repared dies for a new half-dollar similar to 
the American, and ten and five cent pieces of our pat- 
tern. These coins, are already being struck off, but are 
not yet put in circulation. By the courtesy of Mr. 
Frederic Meyer, I obtained the first of these new half- 
dollars coined at the Guanajuato Mint ; and for Ameri- 
can gold, I obtained a handful of the smaller coins to 
take home as curiosities to my friends. The gold coined 
is in orizas or sixteen-dollar pieces, corresponding to 
the Spanish doubloon. Gold dollars will be coined 
hereafter, and the old silver, 12 1-2 cents, 6 1-4 cents, 
and 3 1-8 cents coinage, wil Ibe abandoned. In other 
words, the American decimal system has finally been 
adopted for all the mints in Mexico. 

Senor Castelazo gave me the following list of the 
taxes which silver producers in Mexico now i)ay : State 
tax, three and one-eighth per ct. ; melting and assay of 
bars, one-half of one per ct. ; coinage and Government 
tax, four and three-eighths per ct. ; total eight per cent. 
If the coin is exported — as it generally is — it pays an 
additional export duty of eight per cent, oi' sixteen per 
cent, all told. This is a reduction of at least seven per 



ANCIENT CASTLE AND ITS HISTOEY. 189 

cent, on tlie old rates ; but farther reductions must be 
made before tbe silver interest can become again tlior- 
oughly prosperous. 

One of the greatest objects of interest in Guanajuato, 
is the ancient Castillo del Grenaditas, a square, two story, 
stone structure of immense size, flat roof of stone slabs, 
cemented water-tight, and walls from five to ten feet in 
thickness, built early in the last century, and originall}- 
intended to be used as a granary in which to store sur- 
plus corn for the public protection against seasons of 
scarcity. There is a large court-yard in the center of 
the structure, surrounded with cornices and graceful 
pillars. 

When Hidalgo, after his pronunciamento with eleven 
men at Dolores in the State of Guanajuato, in 1810, ar- 
rived here, the whole Indian and native-born S^oanish- 
American j)opulation flocked to his banner. They were 
hardly armed at all, but were brave and determined. 
The Spaniards, two thousand strong, fled into this Cas- 
tle of Grenaditas, and defended themselves through a 
long siege, with obstinate courage and determination. 
The patriots sought in vain to carry the place, as 
the Spaniards were constantly on the watch, and gave 
them no opportunity to approach the gates. At night, 
the Spaniards burned great torches, and by their light, 
shot all who came within reach. 

At last, an Indian placed a great flat stone upon his 
back, and thus shielded from the bullets which the 
Spaniards rained down upon it, crawled up to the gates 
and burned them do^^m. The stone which he used as 
armor, is still shown. The besiegers followed up their 
advantage, and, after a part of the garrison had ])erished 
from suffocation, carried the castle. It is said that not 
a Spaniard escaped. 



190 



FATE OF HIDALGO. 



In the following year, when Hidalgo, defeated at the 
Bridge of Calderon, fled to Chihuahua, and was betrayed, 




CASTLE OF GKENADITAS. 



tried, and shot, his head and those of his three compan- 
ions, were brought here, and placed on four hooks still 
projecting from the four corners of the building near 
the roof; and there they remained until 1823, when the 
successftil revolutionists took them down, and buried 
them, with the honors due to the memory of the first 
martyrs of Mexican Liberty. 

Visiting this Castle, alone, I found it occupied as 
a Carcel or municipal prison, Police Judges' offices, 
etc., etc. The troops of the State, all of Indian blood, 
but fine, stout, hardy, and well-disciplined men, stand 
guard at this prison, and among the prisoners were 



STREET PEDDLERS AND THEIR WARES. 191 

many wliite men, descendants of those ^vlio suspend- 
ed the heads of Hidalgo and his comj^auions, on the 
hooks. A young man, who informed me that he was 
one of the three judges of the minor criminal ccrurt, 
politely showed me through the building. There 
were about three hundred men and boys, and thii-ty- 
six women in the Carcel. They were in apartments 
containing from twelve to twenty-five each, all opening 
on the great court-yard, and light and well ventilated. 
They were w^orking at boot and shoe making, hat- 
making, weaving serapes and coarse blankets, making 
tallow candles, etc., etc., or attending school. The 
white blood appeared to predominate among the pris- 
oners, all of whom looked cheerful, clean, well-fed, and 
comfortable. 

All kinds of manufactured goods are hawked about 
the city on men's shoulders, and you must be careful 
ho^v you look at anything, or you will l)e surrounded 
in a moment with anxious sellers. I asked the price of 
a pair of blue-steel spurs handsomely inlaid with ster. 
ling silver. 

"Six dollars, Sen or but what will you be pleased to 
give ? " 

The same spurs, in California, would bring at least 
twenty dollars, and I have seen not much finer ones sold 
at fifty dollars. 

I looked at some rehosas, merely to ascertain the 
price, and was offered good ones for three dollars, and 
finer ones for six dollars. Eemarking, by way of get- 
ting rid of the dealer, that they were not fine enough, 
as my family wore only silk — Heaven forgive me ! — I 
left, and an hour later the dealer was waiting for me at 
the door of oiu* house, with a dozen costly silk ones in 



192 HOW THE POOR PEOPLE LIVE. 

boxes, for my inspection. I gave liim fifty cents for his' 
trouble, not feeling able to buy, and lie went ofi^ pro 
testing tbat I was a Republican Prince and a Cabellero 
grctnde. 

I wanted a pair of boots and could find none in tbe 
stops to fit me. Seeing a boot-peddler in the crowd I 
called bim up, and looked at a pair with sbort legs 
faced witli buff, and soles fancifully shaped and fastened 
with small metalic nails ; they were made at Leon, he 
told me. 

" Too small ; I wear number eight !" 

He passed his hand carefully over my foot and with- 
out another question thanked me, bowed low, and 
hurried off. When I got back to the house and entered 
my room, a servant brought me a pair the exact counter- 
part of those I had looked at, except in size, saying that 
the owner was in the ante-room. I tried them on, and 
found them the nicest fit I had ever seen ; if they had 
been made for me in New York they would not have 
fitted me half so well. 

" How much ? " I asked of the servant. 

" Fom^ dollars Senor !" 

" Tell him I will give him three dollars and a half ! " 

He came back in a minute: '■'• Esta hien^ Senor ! " He 
would have taken three dollars, had I offered it, 
but they were cheap at twice or three times the money, 
according to our American ideas. How he found out 
who I was and where to find me, is a mystery I am un- 
able to explain. 

The scenes in the market-place or plaza of Gruanajuato 
are beyond description. The poor people of this great 
mining district cannot afford to waste anything, and 
they literally eat up an entire animal " from the tip of 



HEAVY STEALINGS. 193 

his nose to the end of his tail." All the meat not sold 
fresh is di'ied, and sold in that shape. You see men 
and women squatted on the ground before a pile of 
sheep and goats heads and necks, di'ied with the horns 
on, and the hair or wool still iadhering to them in patches^ 
and notice, not without a rising of the gorge, that 
the poor customers crowd around, and after hag- 
gling for one of them, purchase it for perhai^s a cent or 
two, and walk off, gnawing at it as a dog would gnaw at 
his bone. Boiled pumpkins or calohassas are also among 
the staple articles of food among these poor people, 
and the principal article of theii' diet is a kind of gruel 
or soup made from ground corn ; and they think them- 
selves vastly fortunate if they can add to this a dried 
goats-head, sheeps-neck, or the nose or tail of a bullock 
on Sunday. How they can live and work as they do 
on such a diet Heaven only knows. 

As a rule the people of the lower order are not dis- 
honest, but there are many petty thieves among them. 
To show how far they will go in the stealing line I will 
mention a single fact. In a hardware store on the plaza, 
I noticed several grindstones fastened to the wall by 
chains, passed through the hole in the center, and pad- 
locks; on inquiry, I learned that this was done to pre- 
vent theii' being stolen and carried off bodily by men 
who did not even know the use of them, but would 
take them in preference to almost anything else on: 
which they could lay theii- hands, because they were 
heavier, and as they supposed, consequently more valu- 
able. 

The priests have given the authorities much trouble,, 
but appear now to have become pretty thoroughly 
humbled. This was once one of theii- stronijholds, and 
13 



194 SEVERE ON THE CLEEGY. 

it would hardly have been believed by a visitor twenty 
years ago, that at this time the holy fathers would be 
forbidden by law to walk the streets of Guanajuato in 
their clerical robes and broad hats ; but such is the case. 
About the time we were there, some of them, becoming 
over-uoniident, ventured to disobey the law, and appeared 
in their black robes on the streets. Thereupon, General 
Antillon issued an order requiring the 23olice to arrest 
all such offenders, and gave notice that they would be 
punished ^^ith a fine of five hundred dollars, and thirty 
days in the chain-gang, with double the penalty for 
each repetition of the offence. Next day there was not 
a black go^vn or shovel-hat to be seen in the streets of 
Guanajuato : and this was the city in which the Church 
condemned the Padre Hidalgo to death. 

Education is by no means neglected or despised by the 
people of Guanajuato at this time. While there, we at. 
tended the annual examination and distribution of prizes 
at the State College. Governor Antillon presided and 
distributed the premiums. The College has nearly three 
hundred students, and is, partly, self-sustaining. It ap- 
pears to be well managed, and a model institution in its 
way. The graduating class, with few exceptions, were in 
full dress black suits, Avith white kid gloves ; but I no- 
ticed with not a little pleasure, that some of the highest 
jDrizes were carried off by young men of almost unmixed 
Indian blood, in clean but coarse leather pantaloons 
and roundabout jackets, who were, apparently, treated 
with as much consideration by the faculty and their 
fellow-students as any one there. There was an abun- 
dance of exceedingly fine operatic music, some superior 
declamations, and when all the prizes, consisting of ele- 
gantly bound books of practical value — not merely 



THE BENEFICIATrN-G HACIENDAS. 195 

parlor ornaments — and diplomas had been distributed 
tlie hall, wMcli was beautifully decorated, was cleared' 
and an array of brilliant loveliness, such as I have seldom 
if ever seen elsewhere, was soon mingling with the stu- 
dent-throng in the mazy dances of this land of music 
and of flowers. As we were to leave for Celaya 'at 
4 o'clock next morning, I was reluctantly compelled to 
leave the ball-room and return home to get some sleep, 
and so missed the conclusion of the festivities. 

The reduction works, or beneficiating haciendas of 
Guanajuato and Marfil are worthy of especial atten- 
tion. One of the best establishments of this charac- 
ter in the district, that of Mr. Parkman — an American 
long resident in Mexico — was visited by our 23arty who 
spent some hours in inspecting it. The "mill" or 
crushing apparatus, is run partly by steam, and partly 
by water power. It is rude and primitive to the last 
degree. The stamps work on wooden shafts, and the 
quartz must be constantly shoveled under them by hand 
as there is no provision for self-feeding as with us. 
There are twenty-nine arastras worked by mule-power 
to reduce the crushed quartz to jDulp. All the rock is 
" dry crushed," and the process is slow and clumsy in the 
extreme. But the " amalgamation," as we term it or 
"beneficiating," as it is termed here, is the most interesting 
part of the work. We finish the whole opei'ation in a 
day, but lose on an average twenty-five to forty per cent, 
of the silver. In White Pine, where the ores are chlo- 
rides and oxides, they lose only four to eight per cent. 
— or a little less than is lost here. The cost of fuel 
is eight dollars per cord, and steam machinery could 
be run — if it were not for the difficulty of mak- 
ing repairs — for less than it costs in Washoe, as labor 



196 THE GEEAT VALENCIANO MINE. 

is cheaper ; but in heneficiating they would probably 
lose as much as they saved on the crushing, if the 
American system of reduction and amalgamation was 
fully adopted here. 

Mr. Parkman's tortas are an improvement. He has 
seven of them, each sixty feet in diameter, and holding 
one hundred and twelve tons of pulp. The mules — 
only two in number — travel around the outside, and 
di*aw a shaft which works on a pinion in the center, on 
which there is a pair of heavy wagon wheels, which, 
by an adjustable scale, are made to run in a smaller or 
larger circle, thus working over all the pulp in time. 
As the pulp works outward toward the side of the 
torta^ it is shoveled back towards the center, by hand, 
and is thus well mixed. The time required in ben- 
eficiating is twenty-five days in Mr. Parkman's haci- 
enda, and the work is always well done. The ore is not 
of a very refractory character, being mainly pure black 
and bronze sulphites, and the patio process appears 
to save more of the silver than any other. I am told 
that there are occasionally small deposits of chlorides 
found here, but that by the vatio process none of it is 
saved. 

The great mine of San Jose de Valenciano, which is 
said to have produced in its day eight hundred million 
dollars, was not visited by Mr. Seward, but I had the 
good fortune to see it. 

This mine is situated on the mountain, high above 
the city on the North-east, and occupies a large and 
rich portion of the Veta Madre or " Mother Vein," 
of Guanajuato. It was discovered immediately after 
the conquest by the Spaniards, and for many years was 
a wonder of wonders. For forty years in succession it 



THE ANGliO-MEXICAJSr COMPAIfT. 197 

was " in honanza^'' paying enormous dividends to its own- 
ers; and when Humboldt visited it, lie estimated tliat 
it then produced one-fifth of all the silver in the world. 
It passed after his time into the hands of the " Anglo 
Mexican Company," which commenced with a capital of 
five million pounds sterling, (say $25,000,000 in Amer- 
ican coin,) with a board of directors sitting in London, 
who sent out officers of the army and navy who had 
never seen a mine in their lives, to superintend its work- 
ings at fabulous salari^is, erected an immense engine, 
and run it at constant disadvantage and loss ; and 
finally, after sinking in this and other mines, nearly 
their original capital, learned, wisdom from experience, 
and changed the programme. They employed a com- 
petent director, Mr. Charles Furber, working some other 
mines here at a profit, and in time their stock would 
have been once more in demand, but a fearful trag- 
edy which I shall presently relate, put an end to all 
operations again, for a time, at least. 

Accompanied by Messrs. Anthony Burgess, Thomas 
Abrams, Frederick Meyer, Smith, and Dr. Harris, 
all American residents, who with Governor Antillon, 
and Alfred Jeanotat had been unceasing in their atten- 
tions to us, I started out to visit this famous mine at 
day-break, Thursday, November 4th. Mounted on the 
beautifully fleet and easy riding horses of the coun- 
try — which have an artificial gait, trotting with the 
hind legs and galloping with the fore legs at the same 
time — with revolvers at our waists, and swords hung 
at the pommel of the saddle and run tkrough under the 
stirrup-strap so as to be held under the left knee of 
the rider — when will our American cavalry learn this 
neat trick and dispense with the knocking and rattling 



198 A DESERTED MIIiING TOWN. 

sabres liung at tlie belt and always a nuisance ? — we 
started oif, at sunrise, up the winding streets and al- 
leys, and over the rugged hillsides to the mine and 
town around it. 

At the crossing of a deep, dry arroyo we crossed 
over a bridge, which bore an inscrij)tion, "For more 
than three centuries the people of Guanajuato crossed 
here without a bridge. Behold progress !" In another 
part of our journey we passed a bridge on which there 
was this inscription: "This bi:^ge was built here, etc., 
etc. ; " as it is of solid stone, I don't wonder at its 
having been built there instead of having been built 
somewhere else, and sent there ready made by express. 

An immense church with an elaborately carved and 
sculptured front, worn and defaced by the storms and 
convulsions of centuries, but still with unshaken walls 
of massive stone, stands in the center of a town, which 
must once have contained fi'om ten to twenty thousand 
peoj)le, all dependent on the working of the great 
Valenciano mine. The church is unfi-equented, save 
by a few squalid and destitute devotees; the town 
is in ruins ; and desolation reigns sole mistress of the 
scene. We galloped through the deserted streets, and 
entered the gate-way of the enclosure out of which 
have been borne, in times past, enough mule-loads of 
treasure to sink the largest ship now afloat on the seas. 
Little boys received our horses, and walked them up 
and down, while we went through the vast enclosures, 
where men and animals by thousands, once toiled and 
suffered, but where now the grass grows and silence 
reigns. 

The extent of these works above ground cannot be 
adequately described. They cover acres on acres of 



IMMENSE SUBTEEEANEAN WOEKS. 199 

ground, and cost millions of dollars. All around, you 
see walls from three to eiglit feet in tHckness and solid 
as tlie rocks of the mountains, radiating in every direc- 
tion. There are many shafts sunk deep into the how- 
els of the earth, each with its separate enclosuie and' 
outworks, and the chambers and drifts underground, 
now filled with water, measure miles in extent. At the 
main shaft the works resemble a vast fortress, and 
are on a scale of extent unprecedented in the history of 
mining in America. The mule-yard surrounded by a 
high wall, with mangers of cut stone running all around 
it, must contain, at least, three or four acres of ground, 
and all the other enclosures and out-buildings are on 
a proportionate scale. 

The extent of the works under ground cannot be 
seen at this time, as they are filled with water ; but it ' 
is afiirmed by engineers, that the galleries, chambers, 
and drifts, are longer in the aggregate than all the streets 
of the city of Guanajuato, and incredible as the state- 
ment looks, it is probably correct. We went to the 
mouth of the ^'■tiro generaV or great perpendicular 
shaft, out of which so many millions of tons of ore have 
been hoisted in years gone by, and laying down upon 
our faces, looked into the yawning depths below. This 
shaft is the largest on the American Continent, and noth- 
ing in the mining line to be seen in the United States, 
will bear a comparison with it. It is 687 varas deep, 
— say 1939 1-4 feet of our measurement — thirty-six feet 
wide, and eight-sided. The walls of this shaft are ex- 
actly perpendicular, and for the protection of the work, 
men below, laid up in cement, as smooth as the ceiling 
of an ordinary dwelling-house in the United States. 
The water now comes up to within 125 varas or about 
344 feet of the surface of the ground. 



200 THE GREAT PERPENDICULAR SHAFT. 

We dropped stones into tlie abyss, and when tliey 
struck tlie water the report and echoes which followed, 
lasted fifteen seconds, and were perfectly deafening. 
We then fired a pistol down the tiro^ and the report 
which came l^ack to us was like that of a twenty-four 
pounder cannon, causing oiu' ears to ring for hours 
thereafter. 

The enclosui'e around the great tiro is circular and of 
immense extent. Radiating from the tiro to the outer 
wall, like the sections of an opened fan, are eight sub- 
enclosures corresponding to the eight sides of the tiro : 
in each of these enclosures stood, formerly, a great up- 
right drum wheel, or winze, called a malacate, on which 
were the cables which hauled up and let down the 
buckets filled with water and ore, or men and supplies. 
The rope was always winding up on one end and down 
on the other end of the malacate when it was in motion. 
These eight great inalacates were all worked by mule 
power for centuries, but the English company intro- 
duced an immense hoisting engine to do the work. 
The engine was found to require more feed than the 
mules, and so was put out of use and the mules substi- 
tuted again. There is another, but smaller tiro lower 
down the hill. Humboldt estimated that it would re- 
quire a tunnel seven or eight miles in length to drain 
this immense mine ; but it seems to me that a much 
shorter one would do the work efifectually; and the 
chance of striking "feeders" or "blind veins" of ore 
in the course of the work sufficient to pay the whole 
or a considerable portion of the cost of its construction, 
would, apparently, justify the adoption of the plan, by 
a company having an adequate capital. As the mine 
now stands, it is estimated, that it would require two 



A GAME PADEE. 201 

million dollars, in coin, to put tlie requisite macMnery 
on tlie ground, drain the mine by pumping, and com- 
mence work. It is generally believed tliat countless 
millions of treasure yet remain in this mine, and will 
some day be exhausted. 

In the chapel near the tiro, we saw the votive offer- 
ings and pictures presented by grateful miners in com- 
memoration of some miraculous escape from death, 
One of these was a rude painting representing a miner 
falling into the great tiro, and being miraculously caught 
and stayed in mid-air by the Virgin, as he pronounced 
her name. If any man will convince me that a human 
being ever fell into that shaft, and escaped with a whole 
bone in his body, I will swallow all the stories you may 
tell me about ancient and modern miracles henceforth, 
without a doubt or question. We saw a number 
of men sorting over and sifting a great pile of waste 
ores, the accumulation of years, and this was all 
the work going on at this great mine when we were 
there. On every wall, and over every gate-way was 
the sign of the cross, and ruin and desolation overshad- 
owed all. 

Near the church we saw a cross, erected on the spot 
where a man was waylaid and murdered by bandits 
only a few months before. Near this, and on the direct 
road to Guanajuato, a priest was stopped only a short 
time before our visit, "put up" and "gone through," 
by the bandits who took every dollar he had, kicked 
him, and told him to travel. After they had let him 
go he felt in his pockets, and finding a rial which they 
had overlooked, called them back, and with a grim hu- 
mor said to them, " Here my poor friends, there is still 
12 1-2 cents coming to you!" They took the money, 



202 TEARFUL MURDER BY PLAGIAROS. 

and kicked liim again for joking under suck serious cii*. 
cumstances. 

I kave alluded to the new Superintendent of the 
Englisk Company, Mr. Jokn Furber, wko was in ckarge 
of tkese works when we were tkere. He was a fine, in. 
telligent young man, for whom we all conceived a great 
liking. A long and useful life appeared to be before 
kim. On Sunday, tke 19tk of December, a montk after 
we saw kim ke left Ms brotker's kouse at 5 o'clock in 
tke afternoon, accompanied by a servant, to return to 
kis residence at Marfil, distant about a league. After 
passing tke Cerro Trozado^ ke was attacked a little in 
advance of tke junction of tke old and new roads to 
Marfil, by four men on korseback, suj^posed to kave 
been plagiaros^ belonging to tke band of tke noto- 
rious Juan Duran. A struggle took place in wkick Mr. 
Furber was wounded by a pistol-skot in tke stomack, 
after wkick ke was carried off, along witk tke servant 
(wko was blindfolded) in tke direction of tke kacienda 
of Burburron, and, after many turnings and windings, 
tke party crossed tke kigk road to Siloa, (not many 
miles from wkere we saw tke supposed robbers being 
ckased by tke soldiers,) and tke river Santa Anna, 
and entered on tke territory of tke kacienda of Santa 
Teresa. At tkis place tke unfortunate gentleman was 
hung up to a tree, wketker dead or alive will probably 
iiever be known, and tke servant, after kaving been 
stripped, was set at liberty and returned to kis late 
toaster's residence witk tke news of kis murder. 
Tke autkorities at once dispatcked a party to bring in 
■ tke body, wkick was found suspended to a tree witkout 
coat or waistcoat, witk a paper affixed to tke braces, on 
wkick was written in ink, tke following : " Tkis kas 



IHE GENTLEMElSr OF THE EOAD. 203 

befallen me because I did not give five thousand 
dollars." 

In justice to tbe " gentleman of tlie road " in Mex- 
ico, I must say tliat as a rule they are the most polite 
people on earth, and even in taking a man's money and 
■watch, do it with a certain courtesy and grace that 
makes the operation comparatively easy to bear on the 
part of the victim. They always apologize for the 
act, regretting that necessity compels them to do it, and 
in parting with the traveler, devoutly commend him 
to the protecting care of Divine Providence. When 
not too sharply pressed by the Government, the differ- 
ent gangs in any one state usually have a sort of busi- 
ness connection, and, if you desii^e it, the leader of the 
first band into whose hands you fall will very courte- 
ously, write out a pass for you to take along to save 
you from further molestation. I have one of these 
passes in my j^ossession. It was given by the leader of 
a band in the State of Guerraro, to a fi'iend of mine, 
who was " put up " in the most approved manner. He 
went through the party in the highest style of the art ; 
and then, sitting on his horse, wrote with a pencil on a 
slip of paper, on the pommel of his saddle, a pass as fol- 
lows : 

" Dear Gomez : This party has been done according 
to our regulations. Please let them pass without mo- 
lestation. Manuel." 

The gentleman who received the pass then said : 

" But, my dear sir, you have not left me a dollar to 
buy meals on the road !" 

The brigand replied, "Pardon Senor ? How much 
do you require ? " 

" Well, about five dollars will take me to Acapulco, 
I think !" said my friend. 



204 POLITE AND GENEROUS BRIGANDS. 

The brigand cliieftain, thereupon, not only gave liim 
back that amount but added to it a nice porte-monnaie 
which he had just taken, with others of the same sort, 
from a German peddler, saying that he would find it 
useful to prevent his losing the small change out of 
his pocket while sleeping at night. He then told the 
party that near a certain barranca they would be 
stopped by the band who had control of that end of 
the road, to the leader of which this pass was directed. 
In due time they met the other band, presented 
the pass, and not only were allowed to proceed without 
molestation, but were actually furnished with a fresh 
horse to replace a lame one which had given out on the 
road, no " boot " being demanded. It is true that the 
horse, probably, did not cost the bandits anything, and 
they could afford to be liberal ; still, it was an act of 
courtesy on their part, for which the party felt duly 
gratefnl. I have a prejudice against being robbed by 
anybody, but if I must be robbed, let it be by a Mex- 
ican robber, by all means. 

The business of kidnaping or carrying ojff travelers 
into the mountains and holding them for ransom, and 
murdering them if the amount demanded is not forth- 
coming, now so active in Mexico, is of modern origin 
and a foreign innovation. A few years since the Mexi- 
can Government paid a large sum for the importation 
of an Italian Colony of two hundred men, who were to 
introduce the culture of silk, and stimulate industry in 
many branches new to Mexico. These two hundred 
Italians each brought a hand-organ with them, and took 
to the business of grinding out " mooshic " on the streets, 
at once. When that lead was worked out they took to 
other occupations. Some of them had formerly been 



A FOKEIGlSr IFNOVATIOlsr. 205 

in tlie brigand business in their dear, native land ; and 
finding, mucL. to their astonislinient, that the trick of 
kidnaping or plagiaring had not been brought into 
general practice in Mexico, proceeded to introduce it in 
all its purity at once. They soon made the roads of 
Mexico as unsafe as those of any part of Italy ; and by the 
practice of frugality and economy, and strict attention to 
business, were in a little time enabled to sell out their 
" stock and good will " to native artists, who now carry on 
the trade in all its branches at the old stands. The penal- 
ty for carrying on this business is death by shooting, and 
the Juarez Administration, whenever it is backed up with 
a will by the local authorities, execute it with a relentless 
vigor which propaises to end the practice, or depopulate 
the country in the end. This is the popular version of 
the origin of the practice of plagiaring^ but I cannot 
vouch for its being correct in all its details. It is quite 
certain however that it is not a native institution, and 
it is a fact, that all the bands engaged in it have more 
or less of the natives of Southern Europe among them 
as leading spirits. Of the remnants of Maximilian's 
army, dispersed widely through the land, there are very 
few of any nationality, now engaged in an honest occu- 
pation. Some are plain robbers on the highway ; some 
merely petty thieves in the cities ; and many SLveplagia- 
ros. Those not in either of the above branches of trade 
are quite likely to be in sympathy with, if not actually 
engaged in the various pronunciamentos. There are a 
few Turcos, some Frenchmen, and now and then a Bel- 
gian or Austrian, once soldiers, following some honest 
ti-ade, and unmolested and respected in the principal 
cities ; but the bulk of the foreign mercenaries brought 
over by Maximilian, were thieves and ex-convicts in 



206 THE MIKE OF THE SERRANO. 

tlieir own land, and it is not surprising that they 
fall back into their old occupation, when set fi*ee in a 
new country. The road from Manzanillo to Mexico, via 
Colima, Guadalajara, Guanajuato and Queretaro, is but 
little traveled by foreigners visiting the countiy, and 
the few who do go over it, generally carry no valuables 
and ride in the stage, trusting to luck to get through 
without being robbed, or in any event losing but little 
The rural guards keep the road in tolerable safety for 
the diligericias, and by law the owners of property in 
the immediate vicinity of a point where a robbery has 
been committed are pecuniarily responsible to the vic- 
tims for damages, though few suits of recovery are 
brought, I imagine. On the road from Acapulco to the 
the city of Mexico, travelers always secure a guard of 
six to twenty maclieteros and usually pass through the 
worst districts in safety. 

On our return to the city, Ave passed within sight of 
the second great mine of the district of Guanajuato, 
''El Reyes," situated, like the Valenciano, on a hill, 
with a large town around it, but we did not have time 
to visit it. 

After dinner we went to the Serrano mine, which is 
being worked at a profit at this time. This is situa- 
ted in the hill below the Buifa at the upper end of 
the city. Five hundred men, women, and children are 
employed at this mine, getting out the ore, breaking 
it up, and sorting, it. The men generally work in small 
gangs for a share of the sales of the ore they take out. 
The amount of silver mined weekly is about five 
thousand dollars, and the expenses one thousand dol- 
lars, leaving a net profit of four thousand dollars. 
The great tiro is about 950 feet, in depth. 



IN THE TUNJSTEL. 207 

A horizontal tunnel penetrates tlie hill from a level 
with the hacienda, cutting the tiro or perpendicular 
shaft at four hundred feet from the surface. This tun> 
nel may be about fifteen hundred feet in length. A 
railroad track runs through it, and lying down in the 
cars we were carried in to the edge of the tiro. This 
tiro is thirty feet in diameter, and six-sided, laid up in 
cement like that at the Yalenciano. The necessity for 
this is seen in the fact that a rock, weighing many 
tons, was displaced from a station near the bottom of 
the shaft, a few days previous to our visit, and falling 
upon the miners beneath, killed and maimed a large 
number of them. 

Standing here, four hundred feet below the surface of 
the earth, and six hundred feet above the bottom of the 
shaft, with a patch of pale blue sky far above us, and 
inky darkness almost palpable to the touch around us 
and filling all the depths below, we witnessed the most 
wonderful scene on which we gazed in Mexica Men 
were sent up to the top of the tiro at the surface of the 
ground, and told to discharge rockets do^vn it. This 
they did ; and the hissing and explosions of the fiery 
messengers caused the most deafening echoes and re- 
echoes, while the sides of the shaft, dripping with ooze 
and slime, were revealed with startling distinctness by 
the momentary glare. 

But this was nothing to what followed : balls of the 
fibre of the maguey or aloe plant, three feet in diame- 
ter and steeped in pine pitch, or resin, were swung out 
over the mouth of the shaft and set on fire. When the 
first was in fall blaze it was detached and allowed to 
fall into the abyss. Like a great comet, with body of 
molten metal and long tail of flame, rushing on a doomed 



208 UNPARALLELED PYROTECHNIC DISPLAY. 

planet, tlie monster projectile came down from the dizzy 
height above us, and passing the mouth of the tunnel 
in which we stood, with a roar more deafening than the 
loudest thunder, went bounding and crashing into the 
depths below, illuminating everything for a moment 
with its blinding, lurid glare, followed by a darkness and 
silence more profound than before. As soon as the tre- 
mendous echoes which were awakened by the first had 
died away, a second was sent down, and others fol- 
lowed in quick succession. 

Most of our party were unable to control their nerves 
sufficiently to enable them to approach the edge, and 
look up and down the tiro, holding by ropes to prevent 
them from becoming dizzy, and falling headlong into 
the depths ; but those who could do so, beheld a scene, 
the awful sublimity and grandeur of which beggars all 
the powers of language. 

The remainder of the party now left, and I, in com- 
pany with the superintendent, clothing myself in a mi- 
ner's suit to keep oif the water and mud, descended 
to the bottom of the mine, one thousand feet and 
more from the surface. We went down ladder after 
ladder, along gallery after gallery, through chambers 
like great churches in size, and others in which we 
could not stand erect, down steps cut in the rock and 
so slippery, with dripping water and soft clay, as to 
compel us to use an iron-shod staff to support ourselves, 
and through many a winding turning, until we stood at 
the bottom of the tiro, wet through with perspiration, 
and trembling with exhaustion. 

At the bottom of the tiro is a gre'et pond of water, 
the reservoir into which all the drainings of the mine 
are gathered, and the buckets on the great cables 



THE LOWER DEPTHS. 209 

worked by the Malacates at tlie surface, were constantly 
coming and going between it and the end of the tunnel, 
six hundred feet above. These buckets will hold three to 
four hogsheads of water, and are made of raw-hide in 
the form of an ordinary Mexican water-jar. An iron 
ring distends the mouth of the bucket, and when the 
vessel descends, the wet hide flattening down allows the 
water to rush in, and as the lifting commences, it falls 
back into its original form, filled to the brim with the 
dii'ty fluid. When the bucket reaches the level of the 
tunnel, it is hauled into the opening, and as the cable 
is slackened up it flattens down again, and the water es- 
caping over the rim, runs off down the side of the tunnel. 
But there are still lower depths. We went down 
nearly two hundi'ed feet more, and at the bottom of the 
last level found men at work taking out ore. The drip- 
ping of the water at this point is very considerable, 
and two plans are made use of to get rid of it. A part 
of the water is carried up to the reservoir, in pig-skins, 
on the backs of naked and sweating Indians; and a 
part — the larger part — is pumped up to that point by 
hand. The pumps are mere straight logs, thirty feet 
long, with a • bore of three inches, and a piston and 
bucket, pulled and pushed back and forth by two stal- 
wart Indians, sitting on either side, working by main 
strength without even a lever purchase to help them 
along. There are stations or reservoirs at the end of 
each pump, and all must be kept going continually 
night and day. The Indian pumpers sit down to their 
work upon the wet rock, and are as naked as when 
born; the great heat and want of ventilation, at this 
depth, rendering clothing, if they had it, a superfluity. 

They get fifty cents each per day, and work twelve 
14 



210 



SIGHTS UNDER GROUND. 



hours at a shift. In all my mining experience, I have 
never seen such a waste of power and such thoroughly 
primitive appliances for mining. 

I went through many of the galleries and drifts, and 
examined the vein carefully. The main vein is five to 
twelve feet wide, quite irregular, and runs in a gener- 
ally south-western and north-eastern direction, dipping 
to the south-westward as it descends. It carries metal 
in a very unequal degree, in different portions, and 
though presenting rich specimens and bunches of al- 
most pure silver in spots, is not generally very rich. 

In one 
cham- 
ber I 




a thou- 
s a n d 
feet below the surface. 
These poor creatures are 
let down in slings from 
the surface, through the 
tiro, and never go out 
again alive. They turned 
their glazing eyes upon 
us, with evident pain, as 
we passed with lighted 
torches, and appeared to regard us with mournful in- 
terest, as in some way connected with the world above, 



A HUMAN TARANTUIjA. 



A SPEECHLESS AUCTIOI^EEE. 211 

of wliicL. they still retained some dim recollection, but 
whicli they were never to look upon again. In another 
chamber I saw women and children cooking food for 
their husbands and parents ; they appeared to live here 
altogether, probably returning to the light of day only 
at long intervals. Utterly worn out, at last, we climbed 
our way back to the tunnel, emerging into daylight 
just as the sun was setting, swallowed a liberal allow- 
ance of brandy to protect ourselves against taking cold, 
mounted our horses and galloped back to the city. 

The weekly sale of ores at the several mines is called 
the " remataP One at the Serrano I attended. The ore 
is placed on the ground, each miner's work in a separate 
lot, and the buyers sample it before the sale. It is 
sold in the lump, by guess, not by weight, the buyer 
taking his chances on the amount. The auctioneer 
stands silent, under an umbrella, while the miners who 
have a small interest in the sales over and above their 
wages, volubly shout the praises of the lot in turn. As 
each lot is put up, the buyers, singly, whisper their bids 
in the ear of the auctioneer, and when all have bid, he 
announces who bid the highest ; the other bids are not 
named. The chance for collusion seem to me to be 
very great. Some lots brought as high as five hundred 
dollars, and the aggregate sales exceeded six thousand 
five hundred dollars, at this rescata. This ended our 
sight-seeing in Guanajuato. 



CHAPTER YIII. 

FROM GUANAJUATO TO QUEEETARO. 

"TTTE left Guanajuato at 4 a. m., Monday, Nov. 8tli, 
without a guard, and preceeded by postilions 
running on foot, and carrying torches, drove at a gallop 
down the long arroyo^ between the fortress-like hacien- 
das of the suburbs and Marfil, and out into the open 
country below the mountains. When day-break came 
we were crossing a broad "sand-river," near a little 
town. Many women were carrying water in jars upon 
their shoulders fi"om shallow wells scooped out of the 
sand in the bed of the stream, which is not a stream at 
all, save during the floods of the rainy season. 

We had the choice of the " Empressa General de Dili- 
gencias " teams at every station, and as the road was 
excellent Avent along at a glorious pace. This was the 
best part of Mexico, which we had yet seen. The plain 
is broad and extremely fertile, and generally pretty well 
cultivated. We saw many fields of corn which would 
be called No. 1, and something over, in Illinois, and 
broad belts of wheat already well up and brilliantly 
green. The farms or ranches are of immense size, sepa- 
rated only by pillars of masonry, some fifteen feet in 
height, to mark the boundaries, and each hacienda or 
head farm-house is a fortress in itself, surrounded by a 
small village, occupied by the former jpeons^ but now 
enfranchised laborers. 



FEUDAL CASTLES SALAMANCA. 213 

Higli walls witli stout gates surround most of these 
great haciendas, and on the roofs of some we noticed 
breastworks of adobe, with loop-boles for musketry, 
carried up above the battlements. These tell the story 
of the times of civil war and brigandage so happily 
passing away I trust, from Mexico forever. One of these 
great haciendas, if resolutely defended by its occupant 
and his retainers, could only be taken by means of artil- 
lery. The villages are all surrounded by square lots, each 
containing half-an-acre to two-and-a-half acres, fenced 
with the organo cactus, and each cultivated by a sepa- 
rate family. 

At 12 o'clock M., we were in the ancient city of Sal- 
amanca, the penal capital of Guanajuato, having mean- 
time passed through the old market-town of Irapu- 
ato, which has some five thousand inhabitants, and 
two very old churches with elaborately carved stone 
fronts, now in a dilapidated condition. The State-Prison 
at Salamanca is located in what was once a convent, 
which had a church attached, and thieves and despera- 
does come to work where nuns had droned away their 
lives in pious idleness. The convicts, five hundred in 
number, are engaged in various kinds of labor, as at Gua- 
dalajara, and in spite of the clamor raised by the Church 
party and press, about the despoiling of the Lord, and 
desecration of the property by substituting a penal 
colony for a nunnery, the buildings are being improved 
and extended, and it is evident that the property will 
never again be used as a place of religious seclusion. 

The Government of Mexico seems to be thoroughly 
aware of the necessity of maintaining its attitude to- 
wards the church in all firmness, and the indignant pro- 
test of Bishop or priest, and the anathemas of the 



214 THE PATRIOT GENERAL DOBLADO. 

Cliiirch herself, are treated mth equal contempt. A 
few days since, the remains of the patriot General Dob- 
lado, were exhumed at Guanajuato, and laid in state in 
the College building in great pomp, before being taken 
to Mexico to be interred in the Pantheon, as the Na- 
tion's honored dead. He had aided in carrying out the 
orders for the secularization of the real estate of the 
Church, and of course was excommunicated. The 
Church refused to allow his remains to lie in the Cathe- 
dral or any of the minor Church buildings, but the peo- 
ple attended the ceremonies all the same, and the funeral 
cortege, as it moved through the streets on its way to 
Mexico, presented a spectacle impressive and suggestive 
to the last degree. 

There was not much else to see in Salamanca, and we 
drove on towards Celaya, through a valley at least 
twenty miles broad, and almost an unbroken corn-field. 
In one field we counted thirty-four ploughs drawn by 
oxen, at work at once, and in another, quite as many. 
We saw many orange-orchards around the little villa- 
ges, and at one hacienda a very extensive olive planta- 
tion in full bearing. The soil is in many places six to 
ten feet in depth, clear black loam like that of the prai- 
ries, and exceedingly rich. 

It is singular how little wild game you see here. Af- 
ter leaving Santa Anna Acatlan, near Seyula for the 
south-west of Guadalajara, we saw nothing in that line 
save a few sand-hill cranes, pied cranes, and two species 
of doves — the common " mourning dove " or " turtle 
dove " of the West, and a little fellow with mottled sil- 
ver-gray plumage, and pink and yellow under the wings 
like a " yellow-hammer " — a very pretty creature. It 
is true that the inhabitants can occasionally indiilge in 



CELAYA — 'INTEEESTII^G RELICS. 215 

a snap-shot or two at a brigand band, but tliis must 
be a poor substitute, after all, for tbe manly sports of 
the field, such as we enjoy in most parts of the United 

States. 

We reached Celaya soon after noon. This city con- 
tains at this time not more than nineteen thousand in- 
habitants, and, yet, has twelve churches, foui' of which 
are immense. We visited several of these, in succes- 
sion, and found them much alike ; and all built of solid 
stone and in magnificent proportions. 

In one of them I saw a case containing three hun- 
dred and sixty-five relics of Saints and Martyrs, pieces 
of the true Cross, the Manger in which Christ was born, 
the column at which he was scourged, the Holy Sepul- 
chre, etc., etc., if there has been no mistake in the record, 
and I have no reason to suppose that there has been 
any. 

While coming out fi-om one of the churches we 
heard a steam- whistle sound, for the first time in Mex- 
ico, and went to a large woolen-factory from which the 
whistle was calling to the workmen. This establish- 
ment employs six hundred men and women and young 
boys, and supports half the town. The wool used is 
all of the coarse, common article, costing twelve cents 
per pound, raised in the country, and all the dye- 
woods come from the vicinity of Guadalajara. The- 
master-dyer gets seventy dollars per week, and the com- 
mon hands fi^om two dollars for the boys, to three and 
four dollars for the women and men. Most of the em- 
ployes are men, and among them are thirty officers of 
the Imperial Army of the late General Mejia, who ap- 
pear to find woolen-spinning and weaving a better pay- 
ing business than fighting, in the nineteenth century, in: 



216 THE ARTESIAN WELL AT CELAYA. 

the vain effort to found new empires when old ones are 
crumbling and tottering to their fall. During the war 
in the United States the factory made immense profits ; 
cargo after cargo of coarse woolen goods being smug- 
gled into the Southern Confederacy and sold. Only 
one cargo worth sixty thousand dollars, was seized 
and confiscated, and the owner could well afford the 
loss. The goods made are common serapes^ worth two 
to five dollars each, blankets, and stout, striped cassi- 
meres of all colors, of which last, a pattern for a pair 
of pantaloons is sold at two or three dollars. The ma- 
chinery is from the United States. The building and 
machinery cost four hundred thousand dollars, and the 
business employs an active capital of five hundred thou- 
sand more, and is very profitable. The principal owner, 
Seiior Carosse, is a native of the Basque Provinces, and 
one of the richest men in Mexico. He came here with- 
out a dollar thirty years ago, and now counts his wealth 
by thousands. 

The City of Celaya is now su23plied with pure water, 
of blood heat, fi'om an artesian well four hundied feet 
in dej^th, sunk at his own expense by Col. Saria. This 
well throws out ten jets, of one inch each, and the wa- 
ter is free to all. I can testify that a bath in it is 
among the luxuries of the world. For his liberality 
and pul^lic spirit in this matter. Col. Saria was thanked 
by a resolution of the State Congress of Guanajuato, 
signed by every member. Opposi^ the enclosure in 
which this magnificent well is situated, in the center of 
a handsome plaza with orange tfees in full bearing and 
a thousand beautiful flowers, is a large fountain, and a 
tall and exceedingly graceful column, surmounted with 
the .arms of Mexico, boldly sculptured and painted in 



A CHAlSrCE FOR EAILEOAD BUILDERS. 217 

tlie proper colors. This was erected in tlie year 1822, 
in commemoration of Mexican Independence. 

Twenty-four miles from Celaya, is a town called 
Salvatierra, wliicli is said to be tlie most prosper- 
ous one in Mexico. There is unlimited water-power in 
that place. In the district of Guanajuato, within a cir- 
cuit of fifteen miles, there is estimated to be, at this 
time, forty million dollars worth of silver ore, which 
will yield twenty-five dollars to the ton ; but owing to 
the expense of reducing it there, it will not pay for 
working at all, and is now lying valueless on the surface 
of the ground. 

A railroad of about one hundred miles, through a 
wonderfully rich valley, offering no engineering obsta- 
cles of any moment, would connect the two cities, and 
enable the builder to bag $20,000,000 in profits on this 
ore already out ; to say nothing of the future. With 
water power unlimited, and American stamp-mills, 
enormous profits could be made by working this ore. 
The Jaurez Administration will grant no more fran- 
chises, for railroads to be hawked about by speculators ; 
but if anybody in the United States, or Europe, desires 
to build a railroad in good faith, here is a chance to do 
it, and win fame and fortune. The people are ex- 
tremely anxious to have some one take hold of the 
enterprise. 

We left Celaya early on the 10th of December, and 
drove at a rattling pace, over a road which was then 
being re-turnpiked and placed in perfect repair, a dis- 
tance of about twelve leagues, or thirty English miles, 
to Queretaro. Our road took us through a broad and 
beautiful valley, filled with little towns — nobody thinks 
of living alone in this country, but all the people crowd 



218 SAD CONDITION OF TIDE LABORING CLASSES. 

into towns for self-protection — and covered witli ripe 
corn and green wheat-fields. 

One of these haciendas which we passed was beauti- 
ful, indeed. The rancho contains some fifty thousand 
acres. It is in the highest state of cultivation, and is 
valued by its owner, Justo L. Carresse, at $300,000 in 
gold. His wheat crop from this rancho, and a smaller 
one which we passed, is worth annually, fifty thousand 
dollars, and he also produces twenty thousand sacks of 
Indian corn of fine quality. 

The laborers get only twenty-five or thirty-seven and 
a half cents j^er day, own no land, have no vested inter- 
est anywhere, and are half-clad in ragged cotton goods, 
and eat calahossas and tortillas and frijoles the year 
round. Were they born to be merely hewers of wood 
and drawers of water to the end of time ? Is that all 
which is in store for them ? What Spanish despotism 
peon slavery, and religious superstition begun^ poverty 
and civil war have perpetuated ; and they are still but 
little advanced beyond the old state of slavery. They 
stand, hat in hand, in the blazing sun, so long as you 
are addressing them, and appear, on all occasions, to be 
thoroughly respectfril, orderly, patient, and good dispo- 
sitioned, though their poverty is something painful to 
behold. There is money enough sunk in the twelve 
great churches of Celaya — three would hold all the 
population — to build railroads through all this great 
valley, and decent houses for eveiy family, and clothe 
and educate every child in the State ; and these poor, 
patient, people and their ancestors paid it all. 

Some day, not far distant, will, I hope, see these peo- 
ple becoming small land-o^vners, and fully informed of 
the rights with which the Kepublic has invested them ; 



GEEAT NEED OF A CONTINENTAL EAILROAD. 219 

and it will be well, for all, if they acquire the know- 
ledge gradually, instead of being taugbt it, and errors 
with it, suddenly, by some loud-mouthed demagogue, 
who may incite them into inaugurating a new reign of 
disorder and terror. 

In justice to the Republic and State authorities, I 
must say, that they do all in their power to educate the 
youth, and ameliorate the condition of the people ; but 
while the million poor are so very, very poor, and the 
few rich are so very, very rich; commerce depressed, 
public improvements few, and the Government impov- 
erished by foreign and domestic war, and its long strug- 
gle with the church, progress is necessarily very slow 
indeed : nevertheless there is progress. A better time 
will come ; but will it be in our day and generation ? 

We met and passed many country people, going to 
market, with great wicker baskets of cam,otes, fruit, 
sweet-potatoes, etc., etc., on their backs, and many of 
them were braiding palm-leaf hats as they trotted rap- 
idly along, bending beneath their heavy burdens, in the 
fiiU blaze of the tropical sun. It is useless to say that 
these people are idle and dissolute from nature, and 
will not work. They will work all the year round 
if the work is offered them, and fairly kiss the hand 
that gives it to them. A railroad across the Continent, 
by the route we followed fi^om Manzanillo, would put 
an end, forever, to revolutions and civil wars — I think 
the end is almost reached already — enrich the whole 
country and the road-owners at the same time, and con- 
fer on humanity a boon, greater than all the bequests 
of the philanthropic Peabody. 

Some fifteen miles from Celaya, we entered the State 
of Querataro, the towers of that historic city looming 



220 APPROACH TO QUERETARO ALL QUIET. 

up grandly in the distance across the plain. Our road 
led through a wide avenue lined with immense pepper 
trees in full green foliage, contrasting vividly with the 
brilliant red berries which loaded down every bough. 
All was quiet and peaceful as a New England Sab- 
bath in the olden time. But three years since, this same 
tree-embowered road presented a far different scene. 
The .usurping " Emperor " and his foreign mercenaries 
and domestic traitors, brought to bay, at last, and ren- 
dered desperate by the hopelessness of their position 
were making a sortie, for the purpose of cutting their 
way out towards Morelia and the Pacific Coast, when 
they saw, streaming do^\Ti through the wide avenue, the 
victorious " Army of the West," under Ramon Corona, 
from Sinaloa, who, with wild yells rushed directly into 
the thickest of the fight, and closed the last avenue of 
escape to them forever. 



CHAPTER IX. 

QUEKETAKO. 

"TTTE had been told tliat we should find a revolution 
'^ '^ in full blast at Querataro, and everything in con- 
fusion. Instead, we found every thing going on in clock 
work order, peace, apparent contentment, and compara- 
tive prosperity. The Governor, it is true, having quar- 
reled with the Legislature or State Congress, had been 
impeached, and was then in the city of Mexico, await- 
ing trial before Congress ; but the Gefe Politico, Senor 
Angel Duenas, and other officers, were conducting busi- 
ness ^vith regularity in his absence. 

We found the City and State officials, ready with car- 
riages at the gates to receive the party. The city con- 
tains forty thousand people, and though far less impor- 
tant, commercially, than it once was, is still reckoned a 
wealthy one. It has schools, churches, and historic lo- 
calities enough to occupy one's attention for a week ; 
but as we had only a day and a half to devote to it we 
decided to spend the first half day in visiting the great 
factory which, in fact, supports the town ; then devote all 
the following day to the scenes of interest connected 
with the siege, and the capture and death of Maxi- 
milian. 

We rode at once out of the City to the north-west, 
past a long aqueduct carried across the valley on high 
stone arches, the whole work having cost a million dol- 



222 HOW THE AQUEDUCT WAS BUILT. 

lars. It was the work of a ricli Mexican who offered, 
by way of a banter, to do it free of cost to Queretaro, 
if a friend of like wealth would build a saint and shrine 
of solid silver. The bantering offer was accepted, and 
both parties carried out their agreement. The city is 
still supplied with water through this aqueduct. 

The first factory which we saw was the small one 
kno"wn as La Purisiana Conception — ^. e. The Immacu- 
late Conception — which is run by water, and employs 
only three hundred operatives. It is owned by Senor 
Don Cuyatano Eubio, an aged, and very wealthy and 
enterprising Mexican, whose sons carry on all his im- 
mense business. It stands in a beautifully arranged en- 
closure, with high walls, fountains, orange-trees, and 
flowers around it, and is guarded all the time by watch- 
men in full military uniform, armed and drilled in the 
best modern style. It is lighted with gas, and the fine 
machinery is of the most improved pattern. Only 
manta or common cotton-cloth, such as is used by the 
poorest class and the common people, is made at this 
factory. 

We passed on to the next and largest factory, not 
only in Queretaro, but in Mexico. This is situated 
just outside the city limits, and is known as the " Her- 
cules." This is one of the largest establishments of 
the kind in America, and is a model in its way. It was 
founded twenty-five years ago by Senor Eubio, who 
then employed fifty workmen. Since then he has added 
to the capacity of the works until he has now the lar- 
gest establishment in Mexico, and his income from it is 
immense. The buildings, mostly of but one story, 
cover a large extent of ground, and are enclosed 
by a high wall and guarded by watch-men in uniform. 



THE HEECTJLES COTT©]^ FACTOET 223 

armed and drilled as soldiers. The motive power is 
fiirnislied by two double oscillatino^ eno-ines of Eno-listi 
manufactui'e and one liundi-ed horse-power each, and 
the largest over-shot water-wheel in the world, sixty-five 
feet in diameter, and of ii'on, wholly. The factory em- 
ploys at present eighteen hundred men, women and 
boys, dii-ectly, and has eighteen thousand spindles in 
operation. The buildings are erected, abeady, for 
five thousand spindles more, and the number of opera- 
tives will be increased to three thousand. This mill 
produces six thousand pieces of common cotton goods, 
each thii-ty-two varas — say thirty yards English — in 
length, weekly. The women and men who do the 
weaving, receive thirty-one and one-fourth cents per 
piece, or about one cent per yard for theii' work, and are 
paid weekly. They earn two and one-half to five dol- 
lars per week, and are fm-nished with comfortable quar- 
ters near the faetoiy at a nominal rental. But they 
work from 6 a. m. to 9 1-2 p. m., with only an intermis- 
sion of half an houi*, for breakfast, and an houi^ for din- 
ner. Among the employes are many small boys from 
seven to ten years of age. 

The Government provides a day-school on Sunday 
for these poor, little unfortunates ; but what can they 
be ex]3ected to learn, when they have worked fifteen 
hours out of the twenty-four during the entii'e week, 
and can only have, at best, one brief day of liberty and 
enjoyment of the sunlight in seven ? The buildings are 
all well-lighted and ventilated, and were as well-cal" 
culated for the purpose as^ny I have ever seen, and the 
office and residence of the superintendent are on a scale 
of extent and mao-nificence to be found in no similar 
establishment, elsewhere. The factory was working 



i24 TILE PK0CESSI02v^ OF THE HOST. 

at the time, on orders largely in advance, and lit- 
erally " coining money." The universal testimony of 
the employers in all these factories, is that the work- 
men and work-women are patient, laborious, and re- 
liable; and that no better class of operatives could be 
procured in the world. A beautiful statue of Hercu- 
les and the lions, the latter spouting water, stands in 
the center of the court-yard, and the entire surround- 
ings of the place give evidence of a cultivated taste, 
and unbounded wealth on the part of the proprietor. 
Queretaro was once famous for the bigotry and fanat- 
icism of its people. The appearance of the procession 
carrying the Host, on the public streets, was the signal 
for everybody in sight falling on his knees at once ; 
and if any heretic dared to remain standing, or with his 
hat on, he was sure to receive violent handling even, if 
he escaped with his life. 

A few years since, an Englishman who was employed 
at one of the mills, chanced to be on the streets when 
the procession with the Host hove in sight. Not be- 
ing posted on the customs of the country he remained 
standing until he was knocked down and nearly killed. 
Some time after, he heard a small bell ringing on the 
streets, and as this was the signal for the appearance of 
the Host, supposed it was time to kneel. Down he 
went on his knees and remained there with his face 
buried deep in his soonhrero until somebody came along, 
and recognizing him, demanded an explanation of his 
conduct. It turned out that the bell which he had sup- 
posed headed the procession of the Host, was being 
rung by the official dustman, as a warning to the inhab- 
itants to have theii* refuse dust and garbage ready for 
him to remove. 



THAT SAME OLD MULE STORY. 225 

He was of course quickly on liis feet upon making 
tMs discovery, but the joke on him was too good to be 
kept, and lie was almost driven out of the country by 
tlie wags, wlio never tired of going after kim, on tke 
subject. Tke carrying of tke Host tkrougk tke streets 
of Mexican towns is no longer permitted, and tke mis- 
take is not likely to be ever repeated. 

I believe all countries and all languages kave tke 
same stories, only sligktly varied to suit tke locality. 
A man told me in Queretaro, witk all possible gravity, 
tkat a few years since, an American bougkt a rancko in 
tke vicinity of tkat city, and took a large drove of mules 
to pasture for a year, for one-kalf of tke increase As 
tke mules did not breed as rapidly as ke kad anticipated, 
ke lost money, and finally bursted up in business. Tkis 
story kas been told me in every country I kave ever 
visited, at tke expense of tke next door neigkbors, and 
I am kalf satisfied tkat, spite of tke Mosaic account of 
tke affair, tke real cause or origin of tke difficulty 
between Cain and Abel was tke telling of tkis very 
anecdote by tke former to tke latter. Abel replied, 
" tkat is an old story, you kad better start sometking 
fresk ! " and tke brutal row began. 

On tke evening of our arrival a number of gentlemen 
assembled at tke parlor of tke kouse occupied by Mr. 
Seward and party, and Senor Angel Duenas, Political 
Ckief, made an address, to wkick Mr. Seward replied 
briefly ; and on kis leaving, presented kim witk a letter 
of tkanks for tke address and tke efforts made by tke 
23eople of Queretaro and tke autkorities, to make kia 
stay in tke state and city, a pleasant one. 

Senor Manuel Gomez tken advanced and pronounced 
a " felicitation ", to wkick Mr. Seward replied in writing 
as follows: 

15 



226 WELCOME TO Mil. SEWAUD. 

" Senor Gomez : I pray you, my dear sir, to accept in this form 
my grateful acknowledgment for the generous words of wel- 
come, which on my arrival at this place you addressed to me, 
on behalf of the officers and agents of the Federal Government 
residing in the city of Queretaro. Republicanism on this conti- 
nent, my dear sir, is not the cause of the United States of America, 
or of the United States of Mexico, only, but it is the common 
cause of both countries, and, as I believe, of all the nations which 
now exist on the American Continent. It will be a happy conse- 
quence of my present travel in Mexico, if it shall enable me, in 
any degree, to cultivate and mature this sentiment, either in 
your interesting country, or in my own". 

The legislature of the state of Queretaro, presented 
by one of its members, an address of welcome, of whicli 
the following is a translation : 

The Legislature of the State has the honor to felicitate Mr. 
"W. H. Seward, giving him the welcome. It is the true inter- 
preter of the people of Queretaro with regard to the expressions 
of its gratitude. Meanwhile, history does not efface oif its pages 
the unjustified invasion of France in Mexico ; likewise, M^ill not be 
effaced the important services which Mexico received of the 
Hon, Minister of America, in 1866. 

Queretaro, ^ov. 11th 1869. 

(Signed,) B. Gandakilla, 

President. 

In reply Mr. Seward wrote a letter, concluding : 

" The Legislature will scarcely need to be assured that I ap- 
preciate the legendary and historical character of the state of 
Queretaro. While its capital will be forever celebrated, as the 
scene of the earliest and most pious labors of the humble founders 
of Christianity in Mexico, it will be even more distinguished, as 
the scene of those mighty events, which concluded the last 
and most desperate attempt of all, to establish European monar- 
chial domination on the American Continent. Peace, harmony^ 
and sympathy among the several American Nations, is now the 



" THE EMPIRE OF MEXICO." 227 

common interest of all of them, and it is soon to be perceived 
that it is equally the interest of all mankind. With most pro- 
found respect, etc." 

A similar reply was addressed by Mr. Seward, to a 
letter of welcome from Governor Varquez, which closed 
the felicitations. 

We spent all one day riding around Queretaro, visit- 
ing the scenes of tlie last act in the bloody farce of 
thie "Empire of Mexico," and bearing tbe story from 
tbe lips of men who witnessed it all, and participated 
in it, or w^ere familiar with all tbe details. 

It is the common belief in the United States and 
Europe, tbat tbe execution of Maximilian and bis asso- 
ciates, Miramon and Mejia, was in defiance of tbe will 
of tbe majority of tbe people of Mexico, and tbat Max- 
imilian's memory is greatly revered by all classes of 
society. Certain newspaper correspondents, wbose mo- 
tives may well be questioned, have represented tbat 
every relic and trace of him, is regarded witb supersti- 
tious reverence by tbe people of Mexico ; and tbat tbe 
men who sent bim to bis death, are everywhere de- 
detested and abhorred. I could see no trace of such a 
feeling, and must be allowed to express a personal un- 
belief of the whole story. Imperialists, belonging to 
tbe wealthy and, former, " ruling classes," who might 
be expected to speak reverentially of him, so far as 
my observation, at least, goes, all hold bis memory in 
contempt, and regard bim as the author, not only of 
bis own misfortunes, but of those who adhered to his 
cause. They often say of him that he was, personally, 
a gentleman, in his carriage and demeanor, but vain to 
tbe last degree, cold-blooded, fond of idle pomp and 
show, and devoid of all the qualities of heart and 



228 THE SCENE OF THE DOWNFALL. 

head to fit him for personal popularity, and enable him 
to succeed in such an enterprise as founding an empire 
on the ruins of a republic. 

Queretaro is situated on the north-eastern edge of a 
wide plain, around which, on the north-east, north, and 
west, runs a range of low hills commanding the city. In 
April, and the early part of May, 1867, the position of 
the contending armies was about as follows : Gen. Es- 
cobedo, the Commander-in-Chief of the Republican 
forces, had his head-quarters on the heights east of 
the city, and held undisturbed possession of the north- 
east and south-east, and debated with the Imperialists 
the possession of the lower part of the city nearest his 
head- quarters. The Imperialists held the west, south- 
west, and south-east, and the main portion of the city; 
while Gen. Corona on the south, and Regules and the 
American Legion on the west, hemmed them in, and 
prevented their escape toward the Pacific. 

The old Convent and Church of Las Cruces, is an 
immense structure, with walls of great strength, and is 
situated on a hill sufficiently high to command the city, 
but is commanded in turn by the heights beyond the 
town occupied by General Escobedo. The Alameda 
is on low ground, overlooked by the heights occuj)ied 
by Corona, but is surrounded by a stout, stone wall, 
and was well defended by artillery and the Casa Blanca. 
Between it and the Cerro de Las Campanas is an old ha- 
cienda, with immense walls, invulnerable to everything 
but the fire of the heaviest ordnance. From Las Cru- 
ces to the Cerro, in a direct line, is a mile and a half, 
and the line of defences was nearly two miles — twice 
too long for the force that held it, or rather, tried to 
hold it. 



THE SIEGE OF QUERETARO. 229 

The story of the siege of Queretaro and tlie deeds 
of daring on both sides is now tolerably familiar to 
the reading public. Maximilian sent out Miramon with 
the flower of his army to attack, and if possible, cap- 
ture Juarez at Zacatecas. He captured the city, Ju- 
arez barely escaping, but next day was attacked and 
routed by Escob^do, and on the following day, having 
retreated thirty miles and united his forces to those of 
Castillo, was again overtaken and routed completely, by 
Escobedo, his whole army being killed or dispersed, and 
himself escaping wounded, and with but a handful of 
men remaining. 

On the fourteenth of April, Corona made a daring 
and desperate attack upon the strong-hold of Las Cru- 
ces, and scaling the high walls of the cemetery on the 
north-east side, occupied a position under the very walls 
of the Convent for an hour, but was driven out at last 
by the besieged, after a hand-to-hand conflict. Later 
in the siege, Corona, while resting his forces in the plain, 
in the rear of the Casa Blanca, was surprised in the 
early morning by the forces under Miramon, who 
marched under the cover of the night from the Casa 
Blanca to the Alameda, and suddenly flanking his po- 
sition, routed him, and compelled him to retreat to 
the hills, a few hundred yards in the rear. This, how- 
ever, gained him no permanent advantage, and he 
was in turn flanked by Escobedo, and compelled to 
retire within the intrenchments. 

The sortie made with a view of escaping to Morelia, 
had been made by Maximilian's forces previous to this 
surprise of Corona, and had failed. Now for the final 
catastrophe. The story, I heard from one of the oflScers 
of the court-martial which condemned Maximilian, Mir- 



230 LAST SCENE IN THE CONFLICT. 

amou, and Mejia to death ; and from other parties who 
were eye-mtnesses, some of whom evidently sympa- 
thized with tlie Imperialists. 

On the night of the 14th of May, 1867, the Impe- 
rialists were defeated at all points, exhausted and dis- 
pirited. They had lived on mule-meat and bean-bread 
for weeks, and even that was ejone. Maximilian, de- 
spairing, at last, of assistance from abroad, saw that 
all was lost, and at lip. m. he sent Lopez, who was 
then the " officer of the day," to the head-quarters of 
General Escobedo, with instructions, to say to him, that 
he proposed to take fifty picked horsemen, escape across 
the SieiTa Gordo to Tampico or Tuxpan, and embark for 
Europe, leaving the place to surrender at once, if his 
own life was guaranteed him. Escobedo repelled the 
proposition mth contempt, telling Lopez that he had 
strict orders to refuse all terms to Maximilian, as an 
outlaw, and violator of the laws of war, and that he 
would carry the city by assault at the next attempt. 
Lopez returned to Maximilian, told him of his utter 
want of success, and then returned to the advanced 
post occupied by him, just below Las Cruces, on the 
north-western side, and in the outskirts of Queretaro. 

Escobedo, reasoning that the proposition could only 
come from a man in the last extremity, at once called 
a council of war, and the general assault which had 
been previously ordered for the following day at 8 a. 
M., was directed to be made immediately. The Repub- 
lican troops reached the out-post held byLopez in front 
of Las Cruces at 4 a. m., and as soon as Lopez saw them, 
he told his men that further resistance was useless. 
Some say, that he said that the Eepublicans were de- 
serters who came to join the Imperialists, but this is 



HOW MAXIMILIAN WAS TAKE]^. 231 

denied by Lopez and Ms friends. At any rate, lie ran 
directly to the head-quarters of Maximilian at La Cru- 
ces, told him all was lost, and urged him to fly to Las 
Campanas, and escape if he could. Maximilian, who 
appeared to have completely lost his senses, ran down 
from his room in the second story of the convent to the 
basement, and demanded his horses, but was told that 
the Republicans already had possession of the stables. 
He then ran out toward the north, but was caught 
by the shoulder, by an, officer who pushed him back, 
telling him that he was running directly into the jaws 
of death. He then ran on foot through Queretaro in 
a south-westerly direction toward the Cerro de Las Cam- 
panas. On his way through the city he was seen in 
uniform by some of the soldiers of the regiment 
of Col. Rincon of the Republican forces, who had 
already made their way to the heart of the city. 
They cried out to stay him, but Col Rincon, either 
because he did not recognize him, or because his fa- 
ther had been under great obligations to Maximilian, 
replied, " No ; he is only a private citizen, and a coun- 
tryman of ours ; let him go !" He then ran on to 
Las Campanas uninterrupted, and, demanding horses, 
was told that it was useless, as all the country in 
front was already occupied by General Regules. 

Thus cut off, and surrounded at all points, he took 
a Avhite flag in his hand, and started down the slope 
of one hundred feet toward the city, and before reach- 
ing the bottom met Col. Geo. M. Green, the accom. 
plished officer in command of the American Legion of 
Honor from San Francisco, whom he recognized. Shots 
had by this time been fired at Maximilian, repeatedly, 
by the advancing Republicans, and he was in a pitiable 



232 HOW MAXIMILIAN WAS TAKEN. 

condition ; exhausted, disheartened, and with his great, 
weak lips trembling so that he could hardly command 
his speech, he asked Col, Green not to let him fall into 
the hands of General Escobedo, of whom he stood in 
mortal terror, but to point out General Corona and al- 
low hun to surrender to him. Col. Green said to him : 

"Calm yourself; the Emperor of Austria has sent a 
commission to ask the American Government to inter- 
cede for your life !" 

Maximilian apparently greatly relieved by the infor- 
mation, replied : 

" And my brother has done this ?" 

By this time — all had j^assed in a few seconds — Gen 
eral Corona had reached the spot, and going straight up 
to him, Maximilian said: 

" I am Maximilian, Emperor of Mexico." (drawing 
his sword and presenting it ;) " I am the Emperor no 
longer, but a Mexican citizen, and youi^ prisoner ?" 

Corona replied : 

"No, Maximilian, you are not now Emperor, and 
never were !" 

He then motioned to a subordinate to receive his 
sword, refusing himself to accept it, or make any terms 
of surrender, and referring him, altogether, to General 
Escobedo, his superior in command. Lopez now or- 
dered the Austrians and others in his command, to 
disarm, and the work was complete. 

The story that Lopez sold out to Escobedo for sev- 
enty thousand dollars, in coin, is in a measure rebutted 
by the facts that the Republicans had not a dollar to 
pay him ; that he has not been known to have a dollar 
since ; and that there was no need of such a bribe, as 
all chance for successful resistance was gone, and the 



WAS LOPEZ A TRAITOR? 233 

Republicans already, had tlie city, practically, in tlieir 
power ; the City of Mexico was certain to fall, for it 
could not be defended long by the forces within it. 
There was no point on the continent from which suc- 
cor could possibly come. It is a fact against him, that 
he was not imprisoned, for a time, like his brother offi- 
cers ; but may not that be explained on the hypothesis, 
that although detested (as were all those who had gone 
over to the Empire,) by the Republicans, they still felt 
that he was entitled to some consideration for having 
stop23ed the effusion of blood, when the proper time 
arrived, and it was just and j^roper that he should do so. 
Strict military disciplinarians might m^ge that his duty 
was to have died at his post ; not to presume to judge 
of the exigencies of a situation when his superior offi- 
cer was in command, and on the ground ; but civilians 
will ask, to what good would such self-sacrifice conduce, 
and it will be hard to answer. I do not propose to 
offer an apology for a man Avhose former life had been 
regarded infamous by his most intimate acquaintances ; 
but something is due to the truth of history ; and it 
really seems to me, fi-om all the evidence which I gath- 
ered at the time, and that which I found on the spot, 
that Maximilian was not betrayed by Lopez ; and that 
he (Maximilian), on the other hand, did, on the night 
of the 1 4th of May, offer to abandon his companions 
to their fate, and escape, personally, to the coast of the 
Gulf of Mexico, and fi^om thence to Eui'ope, is beyond 
a doubt. 

We found the room occupied by Maximilian at Las 
Cruces, unroofed, and filled with rubbish, from a pile 
of which, small trees had grown up ; from one of them, 
as much as twelve feet in height, I plucked a handful 



234 MAXIMILIAN, MIRAMON AND MEJIA. 

of flowers. Some one liad written in bold letters, on 
the wall, with charcoal, " Mexico es Libre !" but I saw 
no other inscription. In the rooms below, all was just 
as it was when the imperial horses were taken out, af- 
ter the fall. We went up and stood in the bell-tower 
in which Maximilian stood when a cannon-ball from 
Escobedo's batteries cut down his aid by his side. 
All the buildings around the Convent were tenantless, 
roofless, and in ruins, having been dismantled by the 
Imperialists, or leveled by the Eepublican batteries, 
and never repaired. 

From Las Campanas, Maximilian, with Miramon, 
Mejia, Prince Salm Salm, and others, was taken back 
to the city and imprisoned for six or seven days in the 
old Convent of Theresite. From thence he, with Mir- 
amon and Mejia, went to the old monastery of Los Ca- 
puchinos, and there they remained under guard (while 
the court-martial decided their case) until the 19th of 
June, thirty-four days after their capture, when they 
went out to die. Maximilian persisted until the last 
hour in the belief that the barefooted and ragged Re- 
publicans of Mexico would not dare to shoot a Prince 
of the house of Hapsburg-Lorraine, and one of the 
" Lord's Anointed." But they did ! 

When at Los Capuchinos, I was shown by a friend 
who accompanied me, the window at which Maximilian 
was looking out, when he visited the place during the 
pseudo Emperor's confinement after the court-martial 
had sentenced him to death. It faces the patio^ and 
in the room adjoining, on the other angle, Miramon and 
Mejia were confined. By looking diagonally across the 
corner of this patio^ they could see each other when 
standing at theii' windows. When my friend entered 



THE STOEY OF THEIE EXECUTION. 235 

tliey were conversing. Miramon called out to Maxi- 
milian : 

" Emperor : I beg you to prepare for death ; I tell you 
that they will certainly shoot us !" 

Maximilian replied confidently : 

"No, they dare not do it : they may shoot you possi- 
bly, but Don Benito will not let me be killed. He will 
send me either to the United States or to Europe ! " 

Miramon shrugged his shoulders and replied : 

"I assure you that you are deceiving yourself; they 
will certainly shoot us all ! " 

In Maximilian's room I saw a hole in the floor where 
the pavement had been taken up, as if to effect an es- 
cape into the room below ; but could not learn whether 
this was made during the time that he was there con- 
fined or subsequently. 

In company with Senor Duenas, I rode out to see the 
spot where the three met their death. On the north- 
eastern slope of the low, rocky hill-side, facing the city, 
a rude barrier of adobes had been thrown up to stop 
the bullets, and here the carriage halted. Gen. Esco- 
bedo, with a motion of the hand, directed Maximilian 
to come down. The puppet Emperor, unaccustomed 
to such treatment from those he reo-arded as the dust 
of the earth, gave him a look of doubt which finally 
changed to a scowl, descended hesitatingly, and walked 
mechanically toward the summit of the hill. Miramon 
arrived next, and, seeing that Maximilian was going 
wrong, called him back. They stood at first with Maxi- 
milian in the center, but the position was changed, 
and when the troops drew up on the hill below to fire 
upon them, Maximilian stood on the west, Miramon 
next, and Mejia on the east. Maximilian, from a re- 



23G 



LAST SCENE IN THE TRAGEDY. 



piignance to toucliing the Lands of common men, had 
contracted the habit in Mexico of standing with his 
hands behind him, and in this position he stood, and 
said something inaudible to the spectators, to Mejia and 
to Miramon. Tlien he commenced a bitter, rambling, and 
incoherent speech to Escobedo — not the words, at all, 
which have since been put in his mouth — about being 
willing to die for the good of Mexico, but was stopped 
and told to face the muslcets. Mejia stood with his 
arms folded, Miramon holding his written defense ; and 




THE EXECUTION OP MAXIMILIAN. 



Maximilian with a cross elevated in his right hand, 
when the sharp crash of the volley came, and all three roll- 
ed upon the ground. Mejia and Miramon died instantly, 
but Maximilian repeatedly clapped his hand on his 



THE CEERO DE LAS CAMPAISTAS. 237 

head as if in agony, and expired witli a struggle, as 
tlie eclioes of the muskets died away among the caiions 
of the distant Sierra. 

Died away did I say ? No ; not there, nor then ! 
Those echoes rolled across the broad Atlantic and shook 
every throne in Europe. The royal plotter against the 
liberties of men heard them in his palace by the Seine, 
and grew pale as he listened. They rolled over the 
Pyrenees, and the throne of Isabella began to crumble ; 
over the Alps, and every monarch from Italy to the far- 
thest East heard in them the rumblings of the com- 
ing earthquake — the prelude of the fall of empires. 
They will roll on, and on, through the coming ages, and 
be answered by the uj^rising millions of future genera- 
tions, until "Kingly Prerogatives" and "Divine Right"are 
things of the past. The world had waited long for 
these echoes, and was better when it heard them at last. 

The ground, which but a few short months ago was 
torn by cannon-shot, trampled by contending armies, 
and drenched Avith the blood of Europe and America, 
is now covered Avith corn-fields ; and three plain, wooden 
crosses, painted black, without inscription of any kind, 
and mounted on a rude pile of stones, alone mark 
the sj^ot whereon was enacted the last scene of one of 
the most tremendous dramas of our time. 

The laborers were engaged in gathering the corn, 
when our carriages drove up, and they stopped a mo- 
ment and looked on with silent interest, as Mr. Seward 
stood beside the rude mound, while the uncle of Mira- 
mon told the story of the execution, and the two sisters 
of the most ambitious, l:)igoted and unscrupulous of Mex- 
ico's celebraties, clad in black, stood weeping silently 
behind them. Some there may be, who will think that 



238 THE LAST OF THE EilPIRE OF MEXICO. 

I am hardly liiiiiian, in my want of sympathy for the 
men who expiated their crimes against liberty and the 
rights of men, at the Cerro de Las Campanas ; but let 
them see the widows and orphans, the ruined towns, 
depopulated districts, poverty, misery and woe, which 
they brought upon this lovely land, as I have seen them, 
and then symj)athise with dead royalty and its suppor- 
ters if they can. I have as much sympathy for human 
misery as any man living, but it is with the innocent 
victims of this crime against all that is holy, — the star- 
ving, poor and helpless, — that I sympathize ; not with 
those who staked their all on the dice, — trusting to gain 
the wages of crime, be worshiped for their success, 
and feared for their power, — lost, and j)aid the penalty. 
I would have doubted the justice of God, had Maximil- 
ian lived, and the thousands of brave men whom he 
sent to death through his black flag decree slej^t una- 
venged in their bloody graves. I have stood on the 
Cerro de Las Campanas, and I know that God is just ! 

" The mills of the Gods grind slowly, 
But they grind exceeding email." 

They never ground a grist finer than that which Na- 
poleon IIL sent to their mill, marked "Empire of 
Mexico." 




THE END OF THE EMPIRE. 



CHAPTER X. 

FKOM QUEEETAKO TO MEXICO. 

TTTE left Qiieretaro early on tlie morning of Nov. 
^^ 12t]i, and, passing through the battle-field of El 
Cemetario, around La Graces, and San Francisquito, with 
their loop-holed and shattered walls, ruined outworks, 
and surrounding hamlets, deserted and desolate, as- 
cended a long hill, from the summit of which, we ob- 
tained a glorious view of the white- walled city and the 
lovely valley around it. Our road led us, nearly all 
day, through a very broad and rich valley, covered 
with corn-fields stretching out to the very horizon, well 
cultivated and very productive. The haciendas of the 
proprietors of these vast estates, each a strong- walled 
fortress surrounded by the hovels of the laborers like 
ancient feudal castles, formed a very picturesque feature 
of the scene. 

At 2 p. M., we had made forty-two Mexican miles, and 
reached the fine old Mexican town of San Juan del 
Rio, where we Avere received and entertained in the 
most hospitable manner, by Seuor Don Antonio Diaz y 
Torres and his amiable and accomplished wife, at their 
beautiful city residence. The municipal authorities wel- 
comed Mr. Seward with addresses and music, and Se- 
nor Don Eamon de Ybarrola, a young civil engineer, 
proprietor of the great estate of Galindo, in the vicin- 
ity, made a brief " felicitation " in English. 



2-40 THE LAND OF THE MAGUEY. 

The town lias numerous cliurclies and old convent 
buildings — the latter now confiscated and converted 
into public schools — but not much else worth seeing. 
The population numbers ten thousand. 

Next day, the 13th of Nov., we drove the same dis- 
tance over a wide, prairie-like, uncultivated plain, and a 
lava-field of twenty miles in width, the road thiough 
which was fearfully rough. This old lava underlies the 
soil — the rich, black loam, of the country — at a depth 
of three to six feet, for many square leagues. We had 
been passing over such beds, or " flows," from time to 
time, on all the journey from Colima. Where so much 
of this material could have come from, is a mystery, at 
this day. 

We were now at an elevation of forty-five hundred 
feet above the sea, and steadily ascending. Here, the 
American Aloe, Maguey, Century, Mescal, or Pulque 
plant, as it is termed in different localities, grows to an 
immense size — much larger than in the tier re callente — 
and is planted out in regular order, in extensive fields, 
all along the road. Many of the plants were sending 
out their blossom stalks, ten to twenty feet in height, 
looking, for all the world, like telegraph poles at a dis- 
tance, and like gigantic asparagus sprouts when near at 
hand ; and a few were bursting into blossom. This is 
the " Century plant," which. Northern people have so 
long believed l^looms but once in a hundred years, 
but, which matures here, in from five to ten years. It 
blooms but once, the stalk being cut out to form a 
reservoir for the milky sap w^hich accumulates therein, 
and is drawn out to be converted into pulque and mes- 
cal. From each old plant, five or six " suckers " — each 
of which will produce a new plant — spring up, and are 



AEROYO ZAEOO THE EURAL GUARD. 241 

cut off and planted separately to keep the plantation 
good. Tlie plant requires but little cultivation, and 
costs, on an average, about fifty cents from first to last. 
Eacli plant yields about a barrel of pulque, and a large 
amount of fibre for ropes and matting, and is worth, 
altogether, about five dollars. The owner of a planta- 
tion of one hundred thousand magueys considers him- 
self worth five hundred thousand dollars. 

At night we stojDped at a fonda at Arroyo Zarco, a 
large old hacienda, rich in pictures of great age and 
merit, and other curious things. The owner long since 
abandoned it as a residence, on account of the state of the 
of the country, moving his family for safety and comfort 
to the city of Mexico. 

As the Governor of Queretaro, who had started for 
the capital on three hours notice, to stand his trial be- 
fore Congress, had been stoj)ped and robbed, just out- 
side the gates of Mexico, in the week previous to our 
arrival, it was not deemed j)rudent for us to go over the 
road alone. The authorities, accordingly, furnished us 
with a detachment of regular cavalry, and from village 
to village we were further escorted by detachments of 
the rural guard, a very well mounted, and reliable body 
of men, armed with the Maynard rifle, revolvers, and 
sabres. These rural guards furnish themselves with 
everything, pay all their own expenses, and receive one 
dollar each per day from the municipalities. 

Next day, Nov. 14th, we rode forty-five miles — Span- 
ish — over the roughest kind of a road, soft lime-rock 
and lava, mixed in about equal proportions, through a 
country mostly unfitted for cultivation, and inhabited 
only by a few poor people, scattered at wide intervals. 
We staid at night at Tepeji del Rio, at the residence of 
16 



242 TEPEJI DEL KIO. 

Mr. Archibald Hope, an Englishman forty-five years 
resident in Mexico, who is erecting a cotton and woolen 
factory and flour-mill, at this point, which were to be 
ready for operation in a few days. This mill is fur- 
nished with the best of machinery from England and 
the United States, and will employ three hundred work- 
men, and is in all its departments, one of the most com- 
plete in Mexico. 

Wood is sold every where in Central Mexico, by the 
mroba of twenty-five pounds weight. Here it costs 
only five or six cents per arroha / at Celaya it costs 
seven to eight cents, and at Queretaro ten cents. As 
we approach the Capital and ascend to greater altitude, 
the coimtry become less well- wooded, the hills — save in 
a few places — are bare of trees, and only on the highest 
mountains could we see any large timber. The oak — of 
a species resembling the live oak of California — fi-esno, 
willow, water-beech and mesquite are the j^rincipal 
trees to be seen. 

The nopal^ or prickly pear, grows in great luxuri- 
ance, and the maguey increases in size and value, but 
the peculiar vegetation of the tropics has mainly disap- 
peared. The nights at this time were cool, though 
there was no frost, and the thermometer during the day 
stood at sixty to seventy degrees. 

We left Tepeji del Rio, early on the 15th of Nov., for 
our last days' ride towards Mexico. For thirty-eight 
days we had been " swinging around a circle," as it were, 
having advanced northward from Manzanillo to Guada- 
lajara, thence eastward to Guanajuato, thence south- 
easterly and south to Queretaro and Mexico, traveling 
in all a distance of about eight hundred Spanish miles, 
and halting some days at each of the principal cities. 



THE BLIND MAN AND HIS DAIJGHTEK. 243 

During all this time we tad heard not a word from 
home, and knew nothing of the passing events in the 
United States ; as a matter of course, we were anxious 
enough to finish our journey and be once more in com- 
munication with the outside world. 

As we were passing along the road I observed an 
incident which my readers may think hardly worth re- 
cording, but which struck me at the moment as very 
affecting. In a narrow j)art of the road we met a little 
Indian girl of perhaps twelve years, carrying a large 
"basket filled with some country produce upon her back, 
and guiding her father at the same time. The father 
was old and blind, but still strong, and carried a heavy 
burden, likewise, on his shoulders. To guide himself he 
kept one hand resting lightly upon the basket carried 
by his daughter, and when oui^ coach came suddenly 
upon them, and she sprang out of the track to give it 
room, he followed, keeping exact pace with her, evi- 
dently, reposing in perfect confidence upon her judg- 
ment and discretion. Something which she may have 
said in an undertone, or more probably her start of sur- 
prise and attitude of attention, led him to think that 
there was something unusual in the spectacle presented 
to her eyes, and with a blind man's instinct he laid his 
other hand gently and with a loving caress against her- 
cheek, as if he sought to divine her thoughts from the 
changes which passed over her features, as fear, wonder,, 
or animated curiosity affected them. Of all the scenes 
which I witnessed in Mexico, grand, beautiful, or pain- 
ful, none impressed itself more vividly on my memory 
than that of this timid, shrinking child, bearing life's 
burden in all its fullness thus prematurely, and her 
blind old father, bending beneath the load of years and 



244 PULQUE AND THE PULQUERIES. 

poverty, standing there l)y tlie dusty roadside, on tlie 
lonely higliway, in sucL. attitude as could not fail to 
strike the eye of the painter or the poet — I am neither 
— on the instant ; a pictui'e unpainted, a poem un- 
wi'itten, but a picture and a poem filled with tender 
sentiment and touching pathos, nevertheless. 

After a ride of ten miles, over a rough, hard moun- 
tain road, through a poor, barren country, we emerged 
at last, upon the summit of a divide, and looked down 
for the first time upon the valley of Mexico. 

The day was bright and beautiful. Lake Zupango 
lay off to our left, on the south-eastward, and beyond 
it the little city of that name, with its tall old chui-ch 
tower peeping out from among the embowering trees. 
The valley immediately before us was broken up with 
small hills which interrupted the view, somewhat, at 
first. Numerous small lakes, natural or ai^tificially 
formed for irrigating purposes, were scattered here and 
there among the hills, and on the right, on the left, 
and all around, were little hamlets, often half in ruins, 
with dilapidated old stone churches and abandoned 
convents and monasteries, in endless profusion. The 
valley grows richer as you advance towards the Capital. 
The vegetation is more luxuriant — and the villages 
larger and more thrifty in appearance. The corn-fields 
on either side of the road were large, and the ripe crop 
heavy, and the maguey plantations grew more extensive 
at every mile. The road is bordered with tall trees — 
beeches, willows, fresnos, and pe2:)per trees, in full bear- 
ing. At the little to^^ms we noticed the potteries' at 
which the delicate, red earthenware of Mexico is made 
and kept for sale, and numerous ^'- ])ulqiieriesj'' with the 
j?'w/^'M<?-drinkers standing around them leaning against 



HOW PIG-SKIlSrS AEE MADE IN MEXICO. 



245 



tlie walls in a state of stupid intoxication, with an 
expression of utter vacuity or idiocy upon their faces. 
The liquor is exposed to the sun in the skins of pigs, 
sheep, and goats, denuded of the hair and bristles, which 
appear to have been taken off whole. After much dili- 
gent inquiry, Mr. Fitch elicited the statement, that the 




MANEXrVERING FOR A PIQ-SKTN. 



skins are taken off by allowing the pigs to fast twenty 
four hours, then tying them by their tails to posts, and 
coaxing them out of their coverings by holding ears of 
corn just in front of their noses. 

The statement went down in his book, at once, and 
was added, unhesitatingly, to the, already, large stock of 
useless knowledge he had accumulated on the trip. 
The fact is that the animal is beaten with a club until 
all the bones are smashed, and the flesh reduced to a 



246 A EEMINISCENCE OF WHITE PINE. 

pulp, and the mass is tlien drawn out, little by little, at 
the neck. 

Walking on down the road in advance, as the coach 
was ascending a hill, I saw an officer riding toward me, 
and was so startled by a reseml)lance to an American 
friend whom I left in White Pine Mining District, Ne- 
vada, that I accosted him at once. To my great relief 
and sui-prise, as well, I found that he could not speak 
a word of English. There was a slightly un])leasant 
episode recalled to my mind by that resemblance. 
When the rush, in mid-winter, into the airy and inclem- 
ent mountain region of White-Pine, was at its height, 
a party had gathered one cold, stormy night in our 
cabin on the summit of Treasure Mountain, and was 
whiling away the hours — in the absence of theaters, 
churches, lecture-rooms, and choice female society, — im- 
bibing hot fluids, and filling in the odd minutes at the 
elevating and ennobling occupation of playing draw- 
poker. (I would here observe that draw-poker is 
played with five cards, dealt, one at a time, all around — 
not two first and three next, as in euchre. I make this 
exj^lanation as a matter of necessity, the second and 
third propositions having been advanced in my hearing, 
not long since, by no less an authority, than an United 
States Minister, who, in spite of his professed knowl- 
edge of the game, has been known to lay down two 
large pairs, when his opponent, who only held ace high, 
raised him with six hundred dollars already on the 
board. I make this explanation in the interest of the 
heirs of Hoyle — not that I care anything about it myself.) 

Among the party were two of the tallest men in the 
camp — Messrs. Downton and Gerry — who had been in- 
troduced to each other for the first time that evening. 



THE STORY OF DOWJSTTOJST AND GEERY. 



247 



As the niglit advanced, tlieir conversation "became 
more and more affectionate and affectingly personal. 
Eacli was over six feet in his stockings, each blue-eyed, 
light-haired, a little inclined to stoop in the shoulders 
and possessed of a decidedly camel-like hump, or pro- 
tuberance on the 
bridge of the nose, 
and a very consid- 
er able deflection 
of that organ from 
the line of the per- 
pendicular. These 
facts had not at- 
tracted the atten- 
tion of the rest of 
the party to any 
considerable ex- 
tent; but as the 
drinking and play- 
ing went on, the 
worthies not iced 
them of them- 
selves, and commented upon them freely. The more 
they thought of it and talked about it, the more thor- 
oughly they became convinced that the resemblance 
was something more than accidental, and that in some 
mysterious and undefined way, they must be blood-re 
lations of a very near degree of kindred. 

So they went on, drinking and complimenting each 
other on their mutual good looks and family resem- 
blance, and by a curious fatality, mnning, between 
them, all the money from the other parties around the 
board. The losing members of the distinguished com- 




A FAMILY KESEMBLANCE. 



248 SAD RESULT OF BUSINESS REVERSES. 

pany bore tliis until it became considerable of a bore 
and it grew evident that if the game went on in that 
way all night, most of them would be ruined past the 
hope of redemption. It is beautiful to see brethren 
dwelling together in unity, but when you have to stand 
the expense, and make them happy out of your own 
pocket, the spectacle loses much of its attraction ; at 
least, so thought the others present that night. At 
length, Joe Ackerson got the deal, and there were 
some heavy hands out, apparently, judging from the 
way different parties invested their beans. Downton 
had gone a " blind ; " and Gerry saw it and raised it. 
Dovniton made the blind good and raised Mm ; then 
Gerry saw it and raised Mm, ; and so it went on until 
each had his entire pile on the table, and all the other 
players had drawn out, and were looking on, except Joe 
Ackerson, who had announced himself as having had 
chicken-pie enough, and retired to his luxurious bunk, 
drawij the drapery of his couch — San Francisco eight 
pound woolen blankets — around him, and to appear- 
ance, at least, laid down to pleasant dreams. 

They came to a call at last, and showed their hands. 
Gerry threw down four kings triumphantly, and reached 
forward to rake down the coin ; but Downton gently re- 
pulsed him, and laying four aces before his astonished 
eyes, pulled it all over to his side of the table, and com- 
menced counting it into twenty dollar heaps, prepara- 
tory to stowing it in his pockets and handkerchief It 
was perfectly astonishing how quickly these two affec- 
tionate and gushing brothers forgot their probable re- 
lationship, on which they had doated so much a few 
minutes before, and went into criminations and recrim- 
inations, and fi'om that to belligerent demonstrations. 



THE VALLEY OF MEXICO. 249 

Business reverses will sour any man's disposition, and I 
have known tlie peace of many a happy and devoted 
family irretrievably wrecked by an unfortunate com- 
mercial venture, or an investment in stocks on a falling 
market. 

Luckily, neither of them had their revolvers within 
reach at the moment, but they made a general average 
on the chairs and furniture — all the property of others 
as it happened— and when the company separated 
them, we — the owners of the property destroyed — were 
temporarily ruined, and they went their way, vowing 
undying hatred of each other to the end of their days. 

Since that moment I have had a horror of meeting 
people who resemble each other, and it was an infinite 
relief to me when I found that this man whom I met on 
the road, and my friend in White Pine, were of. differ- 
ent nationalities, and not likely to greet each other as 
natural brothers, should they ever come together. 

Ten miles ride in the valley took us out from among 
the broken hills, and the view became magnificent. 
The mountains along the eastern horizon, beyond the 
lakes of Mexico, lay like great purple clouds against 
the deep blue sky. Popocatapetl, monarch of them 
all, lifted his head, white with the snows of ages, ma- 
jestic and awful in its grand proportions, far into the 
unclouded heavens in the distance. Truly, the beauty 
ot the Valley of Mexico has not been overrated. 

Ten miles from the City of Mexico, Senor Lerdo 
de Tejada, and Matias Romero, two of the most noted 
men of the Cabinet of President Juarez, and the 
United States Minister to Mexico, Mr. Nelson, were 
waiting with carriages and an escort of brilliantly 
uniformed cavalry, and the party left the coach in which 



250 PRESIDENT JUAREZ AND MEXICO's GUEST. 

we had traveled from Guadalajara, for the more luxuri- 
ous method of conveyance. We passed to the left of 
Chapultepec and the Molino del Rey, and dii-ectly by 
the famous tree under which Hernando Cortez found 
shelter on the memorable Noclie Triste, when his forces 
cut their way by night through the hosts of the infuri- 
ated Aztecs, piled up the dead to make a causeway 
on which to escape across the shallow laguna, and at 
last, sorely pressed, disheartened, and almost annihi- 
lated, escaped from the city. Then the glorious pan- 
orama of the great City of Mexico unrolled itself be- 
fore us. 

At the Grarita de San Cosme, the stern, old champion 
of Republicanism, the man of many adventures and 
the most wonderful history and most varied fortunes, 
the man of the iron will and indomitable resolution 
which stand out on every feature, the man with the 
charmed life, who has escaped unscathed from more 
plots, conspiracies, and accidents, than any other man 
now living ; the man who will live in history as one of the 
wonders of our age, the ujan sent by Providence to repel 
foreign invasion, crush and destroy the despotism of the 
church, free the j)eon, establish schools, suppress insurrec. 
tions, deal the last blow at imperialism in America, and 
rule a turbulent nation with a rod of iron, the Citizen Presi- 
dent, Benito Juarez, stood waiting to receive the nation's 
guest. He was dressed in plain black, and had not even 
a liveried servant in attendance ; his wife and daughter 
accompanied him. The brief, friendly greeting over, 
and the other members of our party having been intro- 
duced by Senor Bossero, the cavalcade resumed its way 
and entered the Capital City of the Republic. 

Driving past the old Alameda de Montezuma, where 



IN THE CITY OF MONTEZUMA. 251 

the last great King of tlie Aztecs used to walk beneatli 
the trees at morning and evening, and the famous, gi- 
gantic equestrian statue of Charles the Fourth, in 
bronze, we went, directly, to the palace-like residence at 
the corner of the Castle de Alfaro and Arco de San 
Augustin, which had been expressly fitted up for the 




INTEEIOK OE MR. SEWARD'S HOUSE IN MEXICO. 

reception of Mr. Seward and party. President Juarez, 
who had driven ahead — emerged from the gateway, bare- 
headed, and said to Mr. Seward : — " will it please you 
sir, to enter your house ? This is your home, sir !" He 
then waited upon him to his apartments, bade him a 
kindly " good-evening !" and immediately drove away, 
and we were at home in Mexico. 



CHAPTER XL 

MEXICO AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 

T CANNOT imagine a place wliicli has more of interest 
to tlie traveler, tlian tlie city of Mexico, both within its 
walls and in its immediate surroundings. Paintings 
and statuary, fine old buildings, beautiful flowers, objects 
and points of historic interest, and women whose lovli- 
ness is proverbial, attract the attention of the traveler, 
go where he may. When I had been a week there, it 
seemed but a day, and with all the longing for home 
and its associations — to none dearer than to myself — I 
could but look forward with regret to the hour of our 
departure, two weeks later. If one could with safety, 
ride out unarmed and unaccompanied by guards, through 
the envii'ons of Mexico, I know of no place where he 
could spend a whole year with more complete satisfac- 
tion. Mexico ought to be the Paradise of the earth, 
and the day is coming when it will be so considered. 
Even now, it presents almost irresistible attractions to 
the traveler, and the more one sees of it, the more one 
admires it, despite all its drawbacks. 

We plunged at once into the enjoyment of life in the 
Capital and its vicinity, paying particular attention to 
the beautiful and historic surroundings, and suburban 
resorts. On the Sunday after our arrival, Mr. Seward's 
party, accomjDanied by Senor Romero and his accom- 
plished American wife, and his sister Senorita Luz Ro- 




LADIES OF MEXICO. 

(1) Senorita Dona Rosa ManciUas. (2) Senorita Dolores Mora. (3) Senorita Luz Acosta. 
(4) Senorita Soledad Juarez. (5) Sefiorita Maclovia Hill. 



EXCUESION TO LA CANADA. 253 

mero, his niotlier-in-law Mrs. Allen, Gen. Mejia tlie 
Minister of War, and his daughter, — a magnificent 
blonde, one of the acknowledged belles of Mexico, — 
attended by a strong guard, rode out to Tacubuya, and 
from thence, via the old battle fields of Contreras and 
Churubusco, to La Canada, a hacienda situated in a deep 
gorge in the mountains, fifteen miles from the city. 

This is one of the most noted places of resort in the 
vicinity of Mexico, and one of the most beautiful in 
the world. The views of the snowy peaks of Popo- 
catapetl and the grand amj^hitheatre of Mexico are mag- 
nificent, and beyond description. The hacienda itself 
is equally beautiful, and it is not to be wondered at 
that Maximilian, who desired to purchase or appropri- 
ate every beautiful spot in the country, desired very 
much to acquire La Canada, and probably would have 
succeeded had the Empire and his fands held out. 
The party lunched there and returned to the City de- 
lighted with the excursion. 

For myself, I stopped at Tacubuya, to call upon some 
friends temporarily residing there, and spent a most de- 
lightful evening. There I met Mrs. Gibbon, a Mexican 
lady, whose husband — a member of the family which 
produced the great historian — is a wealthy mine-owner 
of Pachucha; Mrs. Adele Mexia de Hammekin, the 
beautiful and accomplished wife of an American gentle- 
man long a resident of Mexico, and daughter of the 
Pepublican General Mexia, who was shot in 1836, after 
his defeat by Santa Anna ; SeSor Acosta, a thorough 
scholar and accomplished civil engineer, and his daugh- 
ter Senorita Luz Acosta, one of the most accomplished 
young women, and most devoted and loving daughters 
I have ever met, who, subsequently, visited the United 



254 VISIT TO TACUBUYA. 

States to study English in our schools ; Seuorita Olivia 
Boulay, a fair young Californian, who in three years 
residence in Mexico, had almost lost the faculty of 
speaking English, though born in San Francisco ; Mr. 
Brennan, of the projected Tuxpan railroad, and his 
wife, and others. 

From the windows of the residence of Mr. Gibbon 
at Tacubuya, there is a magnificent view of the Castle 
or Palace of Chapultepec, and the Molino del Rey, and 
from the roof, Mrs.. Gibbon watched the progress of the 
battles of Contreras, Churubusco, Molino del Bey, Cha- 
pultepec, and the running fight down the line of the 
aqueduct to the Garita del Belan, and the surrender of 
Mexico. There, too, she often saw Maximilian walking 
in the gardens of Chapultepec, and all the incidents of 
the siege of the city by the Bepublicans under Porfiero 
Diaz, were familiar to her, as his head-quarters were at 
Chapultepec. 

Mrs. Hammekin speaks English, French, Spanish, 
German, and Italian, with almost equal fluency, and has 
an inexhaustible fund of anecdotes relating to the dif- 
ferent personages that have figured in Mexico since 
1830. Mr. Hammekin is an American by birth, and 
one of those who achieved the independence of 
Texas, and was taken prisoner in the unfortunate " Mier 
Expedition." They live in one part of the extensive 
house formerly owned and occupied by Gen. Urega, 
whose complicity in the Empire caused the confiscation 
of all his property. The grounds are very extensive 
and have been very fine, but are now neglected and go- 
ing to decay. Grottoes of lava, a subterranean cave 
with a well at the bottom said to have been excavated 
by Montezuma — I wonder what old Monte did not do 



THE AMERICAN CEMETERY. 255 

in Mexico ! — immeiise batts in tlie open air shut out 
from tlie gaze of curious and prying eyes by tliick foli- 
aged overhanging trees, broad avenues, beautiful shrub- 
bery, and countless flowers — such as grow only in the 
tropic climes — a billiard saloon, bowling alley, and 
other places of amusement and recreation, are among 
the attractions of this delightful resort. In such com- 
pany, and amid such surroundings, the hours went 
quickly by, and it may well be believed I was in no 
haste to return to the city. 

On our way back, we passed the American and Eng- 
lish Cemeteries. Over the gate-way of the American 
cemetery was lately to be seen this startling inscription : 

" Here lies the bodies of seven hundred, buried un- 
der an Act of Congress." 

I am glad to be able to add that the stone bearing 
this astounding inscription, was stolen just before our 
visit, but sorry to say, also, that the thieves broke into 
the cemetery and carried oif many of the tomb-stones, to 
be worked over and made into fnrniture, and sold. The 
Imperialists, during the latter days of the Empire, did 
all the damage in their power to the cemetery, demol- 
ishing a payt of the fences in the erection of batteries 
and earth-works, and it has long been a scandal and a 
reproach to the United States. We owe it to the 
memory of the brave men who laid down their lives in 
a war — right or wrong — to carry our flag into distant 
lands, that their graves should not be left in the pres- 
ent disgraceful condition. 

The Republic of Mexico, to its credit be it said, after 
the return of Juarez to the Capital and the expulsion 
of the Imperialists, spent a considerable sum in repairing 
the damage inflicted by the invaders, and re-erecting 



256 THE GRAND CANAL. 

over the graves of their gallant enemies who had fallen 
in the attack on their own beloved city, the monuments 
commemorative of their names and deeds. Had the 
Government of Mexico possessed sufficient funds for its 
own immediate necessities, it would have completed the 
work. As it is, what they did is a standing reproach 
to us, and we should see that the necessary funds are 
provided at once. 

On the following morning. Major Hoyt of San Fran- 
cisco, Col. Geo. M. Green of the Republican Army of 
Mexico, Seiior Antonio Mancillas, Member of Congress 
from Durango, Seiior Ribera, Judge of the Court of the 
Federal District of Mexico, and myself, started out for 
a ride through the suburbs of the city. We drove 
first to the Grand Canal which connects Lakes Chalco 
and Tezcoco, by way of which a large part of the 
fruit, vegetables, and other provisions enter Mexico. 
This canal has a raj^id current towards the city, and is 
navigated by almost innumerable boats, of small size, 
propelled by poles in men's hands after the old Mississip- 
2^1 "broadhorn" style. Everything entering the city must 
pay a duty, as in Paris, and there is an arched gate- way 
at one point thrown across the canal, where the cus- 
toms collectors and their deputies are on duty night 
and day. The assistants have long spears with which 
they probe and run through a cargo in a few minutes, 
or seconds, and it is seldom that any contraband article 
escapes their vigilance. This station is called " La Go- 
rita de la Vija " — or " the Gate of the Beam." It is 
said that the customs collected from the boats loaded 
only ^\dth farm produce, at this garita, average twelve 
hundred dollars per day. 

When General Porfiero Diaz was besieging this city 



THE FLOATING GARDENS OF IIEXICO. 257 

after tlie fall of Queretaro, Colonel Grreen, witt. tlie 
American Legion of Honor, liad his head-quarters on 
Pinon Island in Lake Tezcoco, about a mile off 
shore, in fi^ont of the city on the east. They stopped 
all the boats on the canal, and with sixteen hundi'ed of 
them, built a pontoon bridge from the main land to the 
island. This island is evidently of volcanic origin. 
At this time a deep rumbling sound is to be heard be- 
neath it, and the matter is attracting the attention of 
scientific men, who think it worthy of careful investi- 
gation. 

The famous " Floating Gardens of Mexico," lie along 
the shore of this lake, for miles, and on both sides of 
the Grand Canal. They were, all, sections of a great 
" float " or " raft," composed of the roots and stalks of 
water plants, originally, and thickened into a thin sheet 
of rich soil, in time, by allu^aal dej)osits, such as may 
be seen in various parts of the Western States, and 
along the borders of the sluggish rivers of the far 
south-west. This float, originally, rested on the sur- 
face of the water ; but most of that nearest the solid 
land has, abeady, become attached to the bottom, and 
in course of years all ^vill become so. The old descrip- 
tions of these gardens will, in the main, hold good to 
day, allowing only for the gradual change in their con- 
dition. Between each is a narrow strij) of open water, 
or canal, and most of them are highly cultivated and 
covered with garden vegetables. The flat-bottomed 
boats Avith awnings to keep off the sun, looking not un- 
like the Chinese "Sampans," run down the canal 
through these gardens, a long distance, and you can 
hire one to carry you twelve miles and back for less 
than a dollar; human muscle is cheaper here than 
steam. 

11 



258 SCENE OF guatamozin's defeat. 

In one of the outlets of tlie canal, opposite Pinon 
Island, we saw the wreck of the little stem-wheel 
steamer Guatamozin, which had exploded on her trial 
trip on the lake some months before. President Juarez 
and cabinet were on board, and the party just sitting 
down to dinner when the explosion took place. The 
little cabin was blown to atoms, and the whole upper 
works smashed into kindling wood, but strange to say, 
the whole party escaped unharmed, though Senor Ro- 
mero was blown overboard,and was in the water sometime 
before being rescued. It seems as if Juarez must, in- 
deed, bear a charmed life, and that his good fortune 
attaches itself to all about him. 

On Pinon Island there are large deposits of nitrous 
earth, and a great number of Indians are engaged in 
collecting it, and washing it in small excavations, where 
the pure saltpetre is separated and dried in the sun. It 
was near the Garita de la Vija that Guatamozin's war- 
riois were at last defeated, and where his monument 
now stands. 

The story of the long siege, and the innumerable 
battles fought by Cortez and his determined band of 
Christian robl^ers, as they advanced, day by day, along 
this canal, destroying the houses and filling up with the 
ruins the gaps made in the causeway every night by 
the Mexicans, is told with vivid impressiveness by Ber- 
nal Diaz, and should be read by every student of his- 
tory. This story knocks half the poetry out of the 
legends of old Mexico, and shows the besieged to have 
been ferocious cannibals and unmitigated savages, and 
the besiegers only a little worse, more savage, lawless, 
brutal and selfish, making the sign of the Cross with one 
hand, while they cut throats and robbed unoffending 
people with the other. 



THE TREE OF THE " NOCHE TRISTE, 



259 



From this neigliborliood we drove back througli tlie 
soutliern part of the city, to the Garita de San 
C o sm e, 
and along 
the great 
San Cos- 
mo a q - 
ueduct, 
which 
was con- 
stru c t e d 
by the 
forced la- 
bor of the 
Indians 
under the 
Spaniards 
over three 
hn nd r e d 
years ago. 

It is seven miles long, and still supplies the city with 
water; but the Mexican Railway Company is laying 
down pipes to take its place, and it will soon pass 
away. 

Near the garita stands the famous, old cypress tree 
under which, or as some say, in the branches of which, 
Fernando Cortez and his subordinate officers were hid- 
den on the " Noche Triste^'' while his troops and Indian 
allies were cutting their way out of the city, and 
across the morass which they had bridged with 
the bodies of ^ their dead. The gnarled and twisted 
trunk of the old cypress is over sixty feet in circumfer- 
ence, and its age may be anywhere from one to four 




TEKMINATION OF THE AQUEDTTCT. 



200 AN AZTEC IDOL. 

thousand years. In height it does not compare with 
the Big Trees of California, but it has a certain beauty 
of itself, and its history makes it one of the objects of 
interest in the vicinity of this wonderful old Capital. 

There is an old church, half in ruins, near the old 
historical cypress-tree, which was erected in commem- 
oration of the Noche Triste, and, singularly enough, the 
woi'shipers are all Indians — in fact, the Indians built it 
and have always occupied it. In a niche in the church 
we saw an ancient Aztec idol, where a saint would be 
found in other churches. It appeared singular enough, 
among the images of Saints, Martyrs, and the Holy 
Family, but it is held in much reverence by the Indian 
worshipers, and the white priests do not oifer to object 
to it on account of old associations. 

In 'another part of the church we saw a sarcophagus, 
which the Indian boy who acted as a guide for us — in 
consideration of a rial — told us contained the body of 
the Savior of the world. I think that he must have 
been misinformed, as his story disagrees, in some im- 
portant particulars, with the commonly accepted history 
of the crucifixion and resurrection ; but as there was no 
possible good to be attained by a discussion with him, 
we did not stop to dispute it. 

From the old church, we went to a beautiful pleasure- 
garden called the " Garden of San Cosme," where we 
found shady walks, trees, flowers, and many conven- 
iences for amusement. It is true that the ^' IIapj)y Fam. 
ily " consisted of a deer and a poodle-dog, only, but the 
other appurtenances of the place were perfect. They 
charge one dollar an hour for the use of a bowling al- 
ley, and we proceeded to rent the establishment and 
run it. We had champagne, and "the Judiciary of 



CHAMPAGNE, TOASTS AND TEIST-PINS. 261 

Mexico , " tlien ten-pins ; tlien cliampagne and "tlie Bar 
of tlie United States," then ten-pins; tlien cliampagne 
and " tlie Press of tlie United States," tlien ten-pins ; 
and then champagne and " the National Guard of Cali- 
fornia," then ten-pins; then champagne and "the two 
Republics^ and death to all their enemies !" and then we 
went on having champagne and things until night ; and 
we got home at last, all right, and satisfied that there 
were but two nations on earth worthy of mention, viz ; 
the Republic of Mexico, and California ; and we were 
right. 

Coming home through the city past the house of a 
friend, I witnessed a scene which gives one a good idea 
of how police matters are managed in Mexico. 

Workmen were engaged in erecting a new door at 
the entrance to the place, and the passage, otherwise 
kept carefully closed and guarded, was left open for the 
moment. One of the servants coming in, met a street 
loafer going out with a huge bundle of clothing which 
he had gathered up in the servants' quarters on the 
ground or main floor, and was about making off with 
them. She raised an outcry, at once, and the fellow was 
seized by one of the masons, while another closed the 
passa2:e and prevented his escaping. A j^oliceman was 
sent for, and meantime, the fellow pleaded earnestly 
for his liberty. He asseverated that he had only gath- 
ered up such articles as he had su]3posed were of no 
value, and thought that he was doing them a favor by 
carrying off the old rubbish which was in theii' way. 

The story did not go down, and he was detained un- 
til the police arrived. The force consisted of two men, 
one on foot, and one, who appeared highest in rank, on 
horseback. The mounted man rode into the ^atio and 



262 AN INFERNALLY POLITE THIEF. 

asked for a statement of tlie facts. Several witnesses 
detailed them, and lie tlien ordered the policeman to tie 
the prisoner. The scamp declared at first that he would 
not go a step, but the sight of a lariat on the saddle of 
the officer caused him to suddenly change his mind. 

The policeman then tied a small cord tightly around 
his left thigh, aj^parently, to hamper him so that he 
could not run if he attempted to escape. At this the 
prisoner remarked : 

" I was never arrested before in my life, and am an 
honest man ; but if you are determined to tie me, do it 
this way." 

Suiting the action to the word he crossed his hands 
upon his breast, in a manner so thoroughly professional 
and artistic, as to show that he was well accustomed to 
the tying process, and bring a loud laugh fi'om the 
bystanders. 

The policeman then started to untie the cord from his 
thigh and put it upon his wrists, when the fellow turned 
to the lady of the house and coolly remarked : 

Seiiora : I am innocent ; but will go with the officers 
just out of compliment to you !" 

This freak of extraordinary politeness on the part of 
a thief, caught in the act, enraged the officer on the 
horse, and jumping down, he took hold of the cord and 
commenced to tie the culprit by the elbows behind his 
back, ejaculating at each jerk, as he brought the elbows 
nearer and nearer together : 

" You will go with me out of compliment to a lady, 
will you ? You must be a high-toned thief, you are so 
infernally polite ! Out of compliment to a lady, eh ?'' 

All the squirming and grunting of the thief failed to 
relax the cord a fraction, and he was soon in a condition 



HOW CORTEZ PEOCUEED POWDEE. 263 

whicli would have defied tlie guardian spirits of the 
Davenport Brothers to release him. 

The officer then told the woman to roll the clothing 
in a bundle and tie it up, which was done ; then he or- 
dered the thief to take it in his hand and carry it, 
which he refused to do. Thereupon he made a loop in 
the cord, and passing it over the neck of the thief, com- 
pelled him to carry it upon his back. As he mounted 
his horse, his attendant attached the lariat on his saddle 
to the cord with which the elbows of the culprit were 
tied, and told him to vamos ! instanter. The officer 
rode off on horseback, with the thief at the end of his 
lariat carrying the bundle on his back, and walking by 
the side of the horse, the woman who owned the cloth- 
ing and those who were wanted for witnesses following 
him, and the policeman on foot bringing up the rear. 
That evening the woman returned with the clothing, and 
brought word that the thief had been tried, convicted, 
and sentenced to six months in the chain-gang. 

The great volcano of Popocatapetl is the grandest 
and most striking feature of the glorious panorama of 
Mexico. As seen from the Castle of Chapultepec, or 
the residences of the Barons or Escandons, at Tacubuya, 
it is so far beyond the power of language to describe, 
that only the veriest tyro would make the attempts. 
Only those who have sat for hours on hours, absorbed 
in the surpassing beauty and grandeur of the scene,, 
can approach towards an appreciation of it. 

It is related by some historians, that Cortez, having' 
exhausted his supply of gunpowder in the siege of 
Mexico, scaled the height of Popocatapetl, and descend- 
ing into the crater obtained therefrom a quantity of sul- 
phur, with which he manufactured sufficient of the best 



264 THE GKEAT VOLCANO OF POPOCATAPETL. 

quality of powder to enable liim to carry on the siege 
to a trium})liant close. But Bernal Diaz de Castillo, 
wlio was witli him every day from the hour of his 
landing in Yucatan, until the final conquest of the 
country down to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec was ef- 
fected, makes no mention of this fact ; and as his history 
is the only one extant not made up fi'om vague tradi- 
tions, hearsay, or absolute, unqualified lies, the story 
may well be doubted 

I have met men, in years gone by, who professed to 
have stood upon the edge of the crater of Popocatapetl ; 
1)ut since I have seen the mountain, and conversed with 
General Gasj^er Sanchez Ochoa — a thoroughly compe- 
tent engineer, w^ho owns the vast estate on which it is 
situated, and mad^ the only actual survey of this stu- 
pendous work of the Almighty hand, which has ever 
been accomplished — I know that some were only liars 
and vain boasters. 

Mr. Seward was extremely anxious to ascend the 
mountain, but General Ochoa, though offering to place 
every facility at his disposal, frankly told him, that the 
effort was one which a man of his years and infirmities 
had no right to make, and he could not anticipate for- 
tunate results in case he attempted it. On this, the 
proposed expedition was abandoned. 

The editor of the Revista Litetaria of Mexico, pre- 
pared and published a very interesting and valuable ar- 
ticle on the subject, a portion of which has been trans- 
lated, and will be read in the United States with inter- 
est sufficient to warrant its insertion here : 



This immense snow-covered peak ascends from the center 
of the table-land of Anbhuac^ and its base is several leagues in 
circumference : its slopes commence at a height of from eight 



THE WOMAN IE" WHITE. 265 

thousand to nine thousand feet above the level of the sea, and 
form the mountainous ridges all around, among which is the 
Iztlasihuatl, (meaning White Woman, or ' Woman in White ' 
in the old Aztec language,) of fourteen thousand four hundred 
feet above the level of the sea. 

" Perpetual snow covers this giant of a mountain, and its 
slopes are mostly composed of volcanic matter, (petrified streams 
oUava may yet be seen) formipg an entirely broken ground, gen. 
erally known under the vulgar denomination of 'Mai Pais.' 
The sand near the snow-region shows no sign of vegetation 
whatever, and immense rocks of basalt and calcareous forma- 
tions may be encomitered, 

"In the language of the Aztecs the name of Popocat- 
apetl meant : smoking mountain, or hill jprodxicing smoke, and 
in fact, the quantity of smoke, issuing constantly from its cra- 
ter, forms a dark column, visible at a great distance, and espe- 
cially so during a clear and pure atmosphere. 

" The Popocatepetl may be compared to an immense silver- 
pyramid, rising from a great basin, whose surfaces are covered 
with all possible kinds of shrubs and trees ; but the vegetation 
of these regions, so full of mystery and solitude, and so inti- 
mately connected with historical events, grows thinner and 
thinner, the nearer it approaches the eternal snows. The shrubs, 
in place of the beautiful cedars and oyameles, and the pale 
looking flowers growing out of the sandy ground or appearing 
in the crevices of rocks, indicate clearly, the great elevation and 
the thinness of the air unfavorable to vegetation. 

"The few, who ever made the ascension of this ftim^i/ng 
height, have admired, and very justly too, the imposing grand- 
ness, in which nature clothes itself in these regions. The ex- 
ploring parties of the old Aztecs never penetrated any farther 
than to the commencement of the snows, and looked upon the 
Popocatepetl with great veneration and also fear, believing that 
a malignant spirit had taken up his abode in the interior of the 
mountain. The Spaniards, when short of powder during the 
times of the conquest, ascended the highest summit, but never 
penetrated any distance down the crater, having been enabled 



266 GEN. ociioa's expedition. 

to gather sulphur on its edges, deposited there by the hot fiunes. 
(Doubted as above. E.) 

" Baron Von Iluniboldt was the first, who came as far as the 
mouth of the crater, but he did not descend into the latter ; he 
contented himself with making some astronomical observations 
and like Baron Von Gros, who was there considerably later, 
afterwards published a geological analysis of th e volcano. 

"In the year 1856, a scientihc expedition was undertaken, 
headed by the engineer Gen. Gaspar Sanchez Oelioa. Until 
then an exact description of the Popocatepetl had never been 
made and it was only through this expedition, that plans of the 
interior of the mountain were obtained, as well as a description 
of the horizontal projection of the crater, and the crater itself, 
its deposits of sulphur, etc., which were published soon after- 
wards, including a chemical, geological and botanical analysis. 

" By the labors of this expedition it was ascertained, that the 
Popocatepetl rises to nineteen thousand four hundred and forty- 
three feet above the level of the sea, according to Gaylusac's 
barometer, which, in fact, differs but slightly from Von Hum- 
boldt's statement of nineteen thousand four hundred and forty 
feet above sea-level. 

" The snow-fields of the volcano cover a surface of more than 
three thousand metres, stretching from its maimed summit 
away down to the sandy regions of its slopes, where may be 
seen and noticed the effects and devastations produced by its 
former fearful eruptions of lava and inflammable matter, as well 
as many rocks of black and gray basalt, all kinds of tezontles^ 
valuable stones of various colors, and red, yellow and black 
clay. 

" The excavations, which have been carried on in the slopes, 
where vegetation exists, have revealed many remnants of vege- 
table coal in an advanced state of petrification, which clearly 
testifies, that immense numbers of trees must have become car- 
bonized by the hot lava, flowing at such a great distance. 

" It would l^e very difficult, to designate with any exactness 
the time of the first outbreak of the Popocatepetl, but it may 
be as remote as four thousand years, judging from the result of 



IJSTTEEIOE OF THE CEATEE. 267 

geological inyestigations, and also from tlie opinion of Baron 

Von Sontang. 

" The temperature of this enormous maimed cone, during the 
summer season, is about twentj-two degrees below zero, Fah- 
renheith. The edges around the mouth of its crater are more 
than five thousand metres in circumference. — Those parts which 
allow descending into the crater, have a surface of about twenty 
metres, are covered with snow, and are known as ^Interior edges f 
after this come various basalt and porphyry rocks, hanging out 
over the abyss, one of which is especially worth mentioning on 
account of its enormous dimensions ; on its surface was located 
the malacate or windlass, holding a cable, by means of which 
a person was enabled to descend to a projecting acclivity, and 
from there to the Plaza orizontal of the crater. 

" The height from the malacate to the aforementioned ac- 
clivity is some one hundred and fifty metres, and its entire 
depth about three hundred ; the surface of the Plaza is about 
two hundred metres in circumference and the length of the ac- 
clivity some six hundred; the interior temperature changes, 
according to the proximity of the resj)iraderos or sulfataras. 

" The Plaza orizontal of the crater contains rich and numer- 
ous layers of sulphur ; fi-om all parts more or less dense coL 
umns of smoke and deadly fumes are issuing forth, rising up 
towards the great opening, spouting out the sulphuric vapors. 
Among the principal sulfataras, some sixty are especially 
worth mentioning, but principally there are twenty-two, whose 
yellow outskirts of gold color denote the abundance of sulphur 
they contain ; one of these sulfataras alone is about eighteen 
metres in circumference, and has several respiraderos in its cen- 
ter, from which a hissing sound is escaping, very much like that of 
a half-opened locomotive valve : of course, an immense quantity 
of sulphuric fume is ejected by these beautiful stdfataras, which 
may be counted as among the finest of the world. 

" Complete day-light reigns at the bottom of the crater, as 
the rays of the sun penetrate down into it, and on account of 
this circumstance, a more picturesque or imposing scene can 
certainly not be imagined ; but all this changes very quickly 



268 ENTERTAINMENT GIVEN BY U. S. MINISTER NELSON. 

when a storm or a horrasca is coming on : then the air becomes 
completely darkened and the snow is drifting down in profu- 
sion, (only to melt as soon as it settles,) the respiraderos are 
roaring continually, the heat increases to such an extent, as to 
become insupportable, the centers of the s^dfataras, from time 
to time, spout out flames and burning matters, whilst the wind 
is howling around the immense rocks at the summit, hanging 
over the edges, and threatening to uproot them and precipitate 
them into the abyss. 

" Experiments, made in the crater of the Popocatepetl, have 
confirmed the belief, that by comarcas onovihles, condensing the 
hot fame by refrigeration, pure and crystallized sulphur may be 
very easily obtained at little cost : on separating the oxygenated 
part from the hot vapor, sulphuric acid would be the result. 

" The extensive and scientific descriptions, which have been 
at different times published by the engineer, Mr. Gasper San- 
chez Ochoa, have since sufficiently posted the geological socie- 
ties, both of Em'ope and the United States, as to this point, as 
formerly, but very scarce and inexact descriptions of those 
regions could be obtained." 

The ofificial and most noticeable demonstrations in 
tonor of Mr. Seward in Mexico, were inaugurated by a 
dinner at tlie San Carlos Hotel, given by United States 
Minister Nelson to the distinguislied American, the 
members of his party, and a few invited guests, inclu- 
ding the members of the Cabinet of President Juarez, 
and Baron ScUozer, tlie Minister of the Nortb German 
Confederation. This took place on the 18th of Novem- 
ber. The speeches and sentiments were all eminently 
American, but as the demonstration was not one of na- 
tional importance, and their insertion would necessarily 
crowd out other matter of more general and lasting 
interest, I am compelled to omit them. 

On the 21st of November, Sen or Don Matias Eo- 



DINNEE WITH MATIAS EOMEEO. 



269 




MATIAS KOMERO. 



mero, Minister of Finance — a most onerous, tlianldess, 
and unproiitalole office— and formerly Minister Plenipo- 
tentiary to Washington, 
gave a deliglitful private 
dinner to Mr. Seward and 
the members of his party, 
with a few friends. Among 
the ladies present were 
Mrs. Romero — formerly 
Miss Lulu B. Allen of 
Washington — ^her mother 
— Mrs. Allen — Senorita 
Luz Romero, Senorita Do= 
lores Mejia, the beautiful 
and accomplished daugh- 
ter of General Mejia, Minister of War and Marine, who 
was also present. The reunion was social, and of the 
most intimately fi^endly character. 

Mr. Seward paid a high and well-deserved tribute to 
' Senor Romero, for the services rendered by him to the 
cause of liberty and Mexico during his residence at 
Washington, and the latter replied in feeling and affect- 
ing terms, acknowledging that the policy marked out 
by Mr. Seward, though strongly opposed by himself 
and General Grant — both of whom were at the time in 
favor of armed intervention by the United States, and 
the expulsion of the French from Mexican soil by force 
— was the best in the end, and accomplished its object 
without entailing on Mexico the curse which usually 
falls on nations who call in a more powerful neighbor 
to relieve them from a present danger, creating thereby 
a danger still greater, and harder to meet and over- 
come. 



270 DINNEE WITH THE PEESIDENT's FAMILY. 

This speecli contained a revelation of some diplomatic 
secrets, the chief of which was, that at that time, Mr. 
Romero and prominent military men, were so deter- 
mined to bring about an armed intervention, that they 
coalesced, with the object of securing Mr. Seward's re- 
moval fi'om the Cabinet, but failed. 

On the 24th of November, the party accompanied 
Mr. SeAvard to Chapultepec, to dine with the family of 
President Juarez. This dinner was a most sumptuous 
and elegant affair. Nothing that money could procure, 
and good taste suggest was lacking, and the decorations 
of the grand dining-hall, reception-rooms, and parlors 
were beautiful and tasteful in all their details. Senor 
'' Don Benito," — as his friends love to call him — and 
his amiable wife, did the honors of the house in a man- 
ner which put all the guests — fifty in number — per- 
fectly at their ease, and they were assisted by all the 
sons-in-law and daughters, Miss Soledad, and Don Benito 
Juarez, jr. As the dinner was strictly a private one, 
and the toasts and sentiments such as would be given 
only at a family reunion of old and dear friends, I shall 
say no more about it. 

The table was spread in the grand saloon in which 
the " Feast of Belshazzar " — as it has been not inaptly 
termed — took place, on Maximilian's return from Ori- 
zaba, just previous to his departure for Queretaro on 
the fatal expedition which resulted in the collapse of 
his mushroom empire, and the erection of a little mound 
of stones and three black crosses, at the foot of the 
Cerro de Las Campauas, as a monument and a warning 
to unscrupulous and ambitious adventurers for all com- 
ing time ; the table, too, was the same. 

We went up on the roof, and looked down on the 



AT CHAPULTEPEC. 



271 



fair Valley of Mexico — tlie fairest, it seemed to us, on 
wMcli our eyes had ever gazed. Tlie grand, old forest 
with its liuge trees covered with long, grey moss, hang- 
ing down like a funeral pall, and the winding road 
leading up to the 
castle, was at our 
feet. Up the 
slope to the rear 
of the castle, 
charged the victo- 
r i o u s American 
troops, on the 
memorable day 
when the last bul- 
wark of the un- 
fortunate republic 
fell. All around 
the palace, or cas- 
tle, were the beau- 
tiful gardens, 

filled with blooming flowers which Maximilian and 
Carlotta — I never heard her called " poor Carlotta " in 
Mexico — had planted. 

Out by the gate-way stands the scarred and black- 
ened tree, at whose foot — so tradition says, and prob- 
ably tells the truth — Gruatamozin, " heroic in the de- 
fence of his empire and sublime in his martyrdom," (as 
the legend on the monument just raised to the honor of 
his memory, on the banks of the grand canal where his 
final defeat took place, by the order of the Agunte- 
mento of Mexico, tells us,) was put to cruel torture by the 
ruthless Spaniards, in the vain effort to make him reveal 
the hiding place of the treasures for which they are dig- 




CHAPUIiTEPEC. 



272 THE PALACE AND ITS SUEROUNDINGS. 

giiig ill the ancient city, to-day. In front of us was the 
fair Capital of the Republic, with its many towers and 
steejiles, and white-walled palaces, and the beautiful 
lakes beyond, glistening in the bright autumn sun of 
the tropics. 

To the north-east, beyond the city, was Guadaloupe, 
and the villages along the shores of Lake Tezcoco. 
Nearer by, off a little to the left, not far from the great 
aqueduct of San Cosme, — which,oh Vandalic outrage! 
is now being demolished to give place to a railroad 
track — is the Church of the Noclie THste^ and the 
great tree in which Cortez hid on the night of his dis- 
astrous retreat from Mexico. To the right, Tacubuya, 
with its monument to the honor of the brave men who 
fell in the defense of Mexico against the American 
Army under General Scott, and the scene of many a 
fearful deed of blood and outrage. Behind the castle, 
the red- walled and flat-roofed " Molino del Key," where 
so many gallant American soldiers laid doA\Ti their 
lives ; and frirther south, the battle-fields of Contreras 
and Chm^ubusco. 

The valley of Mexico, with its surrounding moun- 
tains, forms a perfect amphitheater, of which Chapulte- 
pec is the "dress-circle." Popocatapetl, the white, 
headed old monarch of all the mountains of North 
America, towers in everlasting grandeur high into the 
blue heavens, in the south-east, and '*• the Woman in 
White " — his glorious spouse — stands beside him. like 
a royal bride at the altar. Every foot of the ground 
within the limit of our vision is historic, and around it 
clings nearly the entire romance of the New World. 

Inexpressibly lovely, is the prospect from the veran- 
dahs of Chapultepec, turn which way you will, and I 



SOUVEinES OF MAXTMILIAIT. 



273 



do not wonder, that Maximilian lavished such sums 
upon the spot which he fondly anticipated was to he 
the home of himself and his descendants, and the seat 
of power of a mighty empire, which he imagined he 
had founded on the ruins of liberty in America. The 
last official document signed, by this infatuated dreamer, 
when he was suiTOunded at Queretaro, and captivity 
and a felon's death stared him in the face, was an or- 
der for the importation of two thousand German night- 
ingales mth which to stock the groves of Chapultepec. 

The obscene statuary which he placed in the gardens 
and corridors of Chapultepec, though generally mutila- 
ted in no delicate manner, still stands there, and the 
walls are adorned with voluptuous representations of 
the Seasons, etc., after the style of an ancient Pompeian 
Villa, which he designed to imitate ; but there are no 
pictures left in the palace, and most of the furniture, 
and all the costly plate and dinner-service was removed 
when General Diaz — who had his head-quarters here — 
reduced the city to a surrender and the last act in the 
ghastly farce was over. 

We saw the bathroom and chambers occupied by 
the royal couple, their beds and parlor furniture, or a 
portion of it, and a few other relics and souvenirs, but 
cared more for the attractions with which nature and 
art, combined, have invested the view ft-om the veran- 
dah. The magnificent colonnade, which was being 
erected by Maximilian's orders along the whole front 
of the palace, next to Tacubuya, is still unfinished, 
and the stones lie just where they were left when the 
news came that Queretaro had fallen ; and knowing 
that the end had come, 

" The guests fled th^ hall and the vassals from lahor," 
18 



274 



THE ALAMEDA OF MEXICO. 



and tlie swift vengeance of the Almighty fell on all 
who had participated in the great crime against free- 
dom and humanity. 

We rode back at night-fall through the broad, 
straight avenue which Maximilian had cut from the old 
Alameda, under whose trees Montezuma once walked, 
and saw thousands of ladies and gentlemen riding up 
and down on the long paseo — a drive of a mile or more, 
the fashionable and only safe drive in the vicinity of 
Mexico — while the military band played in the plaza, 
and the cavalry of the Mexican army galloped, here 
and there, ensuring us and them against the attacks 
of the handidos and plagiaroSj with which even the 
suburbs of the capital swarm. 




LERBO DK TEJADA. 



CHAPTER XII. 

TESTIYITIES IN MEXICO. 

/^N Thursday, November 30tli, Seiior Don Sebastian 
^■^^Lerdo de Tejada, Minister of Foreign Relations, 
(Secretary of State,) gave a bachelor dinner at Ms 
beautiful, and richly and tastefully foi-nished residence, 
in honor of Mr. Seward. The affair was strictly a pri- 
vate one, and only sixteen persons, all told, sat down 
to the banquet. The parties were: the host, Senor 
Lerdo, Mr. Seward, United States Minister Nelson, 
Minister Romero, Baron Schlozer, Minister of the North 
German Confederation, Minister Iglesias, Frederick 
Seward, General Savadera, General Mejia, Minister of 
War, Col. Albert S. Evans, Senor Bossero, George S. 
SHlton, United States Vice Consul, Minister Balcarcel, 
Mr. Fitch, Mr. Boal, Secretary of American Legation^ 
and Mi\ Foster. 

Mr. Lerdo, of course, made the first after-dinner 
speech, cordially welcoming Mr. Seward, recounting his 
services in behalf of Mexico, and giving due credit to 
the Government and people of the United States, for 
their moral and physical aid and sympathy. He con. 
eluded with a toast in honor of the President of the 
United States, to which Mr. Nelson made a brief but 
effective reply, paying a high tribute to Senor Lerdo, 
and toasting President Juarez and Cabinet. 

Mr. Seward then read the following address, which 



276 PRIVATE DINNER AT SEN OR LERDO's. 

was translated into Spanish and read, at once, by Mr. 
Bossero : 

The year 1861 without calculation or effort, and almost with- 
out expectation on my own part, brought me to a position in 
which I had. to confront a desperate, organized, and even armed 
resistance, to all the great political ideas which I had fondly 
cherished and peacefully promulgated through a period of many 
years. Slavery had taken up arms in alarm for its life, and 
had organized rebellion aiming at the dissolution of the Amer- 
can Union. Spain, deriding what imder the circumstances 
seemed the imbecile theory of the Monroe doctrine, through 
the treachery of President Santa Anna gained possession of the 
City of San Domingo, and re-established a Yice Royalty in that 
Island, and soon after seized the ChirLcha Islands from Peru ; 
Great Britain, not yet cordially reconciled to the independence 
of her former colonies, the United States, struck hands with 
France, which had been their ancient ally, but was now labor- 
ing under a hallucination of imperial ambition, and with the 
concurrence, voluntary in some cases, and forced in others, of 
the other maritime powers of Western Europe, lifted the reb- 
els of the United States to the rank and advantage of lawful 
belligerents. The statesmen of Europe, with its press almost 
unanimous, announced that the United States of America had 
ceased to exist as one whole sovereign and organized nation. The 
Emperor of France emboldened by the seeming prosti-ation of 
the United States, landed invading armies at Yera Cruz and Ac- 
apulco, and overran the territories of Mexico, overthrowing all 
its Eepublican institutions and establishing upon their ruins an 
European Empire. With the United States in anarchy, St. 
Domingo re-established as a monarchy, and Mexico as an Em- 
pire, it was unavoidable that Republicanism must perish through- 
out the whole Continent, and that thereafter there would re- 
main for those who had been its heroes, its friends, its advo- 
cates, and its martyrs, only the same sentiments of reverence 
and pity with which mankind are accustomed to contemplate 
the memories of Themistocles and Demosthenes, of Cato and 
of Cicero. 



ME. sewaed's addeess. 277 

In that liour of supreme trial I thouglit I knew better than 
the enemies of our sacred cause, the resources, the energies and 
the virtues of the imperilled nation. In the name of the 
United States, I called upon the Republican rulers and states- 
men of the Continent for moral aid, and conjm-ed them by all 
the force of common sympathy, common danger and common 
ambition to be faithful and persevering in their own Eepub- 
lics. The universal answer was equal to the expectation. The 
United States became for the first time in sincerity and ear- 
nestness, the friend and ally of every other Republican State in 
America, and all the Republican States became from that hour 
the friends and allies of the United States. This alliance com- 
manded respect and confidence in unexpected quarters. Switz- 
erland, Italy, Russia, l^orth Germany, Turkey, Egj^pt, Mo- 
rocco, Siam, and China became the friends and moral allies of 
the American Republics, and their triumph at last was com- 
plete. The United States were restored, and Slavery abolished 
there. St. Domingo was evacuated, Peru was left indei^end- 
ent, and Mexico resumed her noble Republican autonomy. 
For the heroes who led Republican forces in this great contest, 
Scott, Grant, Sherman, McClellan, Farragut, and so many oth- 
ers in the United States ; Zaragoza, Diaz, Arteaga, Salazar, Es- 
cobedo and Corona in Mexico — for the statesmen who directed 
the councils of the nations who took ]part in it, Lincoln, John- 
son, Stevens, Stanton, in the United States — Juarez, Lerdo 
Iglesias and Romero in Mexico — Gortchacoff, Bright, Bismarck 
and ISTapoleon (Jerome) in Europe, I came to feel and acknowl- 
edge sentiments of gratitude, of respect and of affection, not in. 
ferior in force to those of fraternal confidence and affection. 

This is the manner, Mr. Lerdo, by which you have won me 
to your side and secm^ed my ardent wishes for your future pros- 
perity and suceess as a man, a minister and a statesman. If I 
have not so expressed myself heretofore, since my arrival in 
Mexico, it was only because I was waiting for this most season- 
able occasion. 

The two great demonstrations in honor of Mr. Sew- 



278 GRAND BANQUET AT THE PALACIO NACIONAL. 

ard in Mexico, were tlie gi'and banquet at the Palacio 
Nacional., and tlie grand ball at the Teatro Nacional., 
whicb concluded tbe festivities. 

Tlie banquet took place on the niglit of Saturday, 
Dec. 27tli, in the Lall — four hundred feet in length — at 
the southei'n end of which Maximilian's throne once 
stood, and where the crimson canopy of rich silk bro- 
cade which surmounted it still stands, as if in mockery 
of the past, and a perj)etual seiTQon on the vanity of 
human ambition. As if to add point to the lesson, the 
sword and sceptre of Iturbide, inclosed in a fi-ame 
and covered with glass, were hanging against the wall, 
right above the chairs occupied by the Citizen Presi- 
denty Don Benito Juarez, and the Ex-Premier of the 
United State, Wm. H. Seward. 

The invitations were issued by " JEl Ministro de Re- 
lactones JExteriores^'' Senor Lerdo de Tejada, in the name 
of the President of the Eepublic, and in honor of the 
Hon. Wm. H. Seward. 

The guests were received in the great di'awing-rooms 
hung with crimson satin tapestry, brought over and 
placed there by Maximilian ; and the kind, amiable, and 
accomplished ladies of the family of the President, — 
though not participating in the dinner, as no ladies 
were invited — were in attendance to welcome them. 

Four hundred guests, including all the prominent 
American gentlemen in the city, the sons-in-law and 
staff of the President, all the Cabinet, and the princi- 
pal officers and heads of departments of the Govern- 
ment, with many members of Congress — among them 
some of the most distinguished leaders of the opposi- 
tion — sat down at the table at 7 P. M. 

The scene, when all the guests were seated at the ta- 



AN ERA OF GOOD FEELING. 279 

ble in tlie brilliantly lighted hall, was one such as is 
seldom witnessed on our continent, and never twice in a 
life-time. Juarez and Seward sat together, and the 
guests, Mexicans and Americans, were so distributed 
through the hall as to produce the most striking con- 
trasts. Confederate officers, in exile, sat side by side 
and drank with veterans of the army of the Union, and 
next them, officers of the army of the Eej^ublic of Mex- 
ico, with their breasts covered with decorations com- 
memorative of gallant deeds performed in the late war, 
or even as far back as the war between the United 
States and Mexico in 1846 — 7. Members of the Cabi- 
net of President Juarez sat by the side of the most vi- 
olent leaders of the opposition, and for the time, at 
least, all hostility and ill-feeling appeared to be laid 
aside, out of mutual good- will and respect for the guest 
of the nation. 

Of the four hundred guests present, about three hun- 
dred appeared to have come charged with speeches and 
" hrindisis^^'' the military men forming the exceptional 
one hundred. Conspicuous in the vicinity of the Pres- 
ident was General Mejia, Minister of War, in his gor- 
geous uniform of Commander-in-Chief, and directly op- 
posite him I noticed Col. Geo. M. Green, late Comman- 
der of the American Legion of Honor, wearing the 
decoration for the highest order of merit for services 
rendered in the war against the Emj)ire. 

The hall, fhough of immense length, is quite dispro- 
portionately narrow, so that but one table was set 
through its entire length. This naturally made it im- 
possible for the after-dinner speakers to be heard at 
either end of the table, and led to much confusion late 
in the evening. 



280 SPEECHES, MUSIC, AND CONFUSION. 

The President, staff and Cabinet, with Mr. Seward 
and party, occupied the center. The northern end of 
the hall was occupied by a stage, on Avhich the grand 
band was jilaced, and a company of some fifty profes- 
sional and amateur vocalists rendered from time to 
time the national songs of Mexico and the United 
States, and choice selections from the most popular op- 
eras. The table was furnished sumptuously with 
French porcelain and plate : the great epergne in the 
center before President Juarez was a master-piece of 
art of immense value, being of pui'e silver, and all the 
fiorures and statuettes of solid metal — a relic of the de- 
funct Empii'e. 

When the speaking commenced at about 9 o'clock — it 
lasted until midnight — the center of attraction was, of 
course, at the middle of the table, but as all could 
not hear, another set of speakers were hard at work 
at each end of the hall, and the band (being unable 
to tell who was speaking and who was not,) chipped 
in from time to time with music at the most 
inappropriate moment, thus adding to the confu- 
sion, and making it almost impossible for any one 
speaker to be heard a dozen yards away. Neverthe- 
less, the best possible feeling prevailed ; all was excite- 
ment and enthusiasm, but there was no wilful disorder, 
and each seemed to be determined to do his utmost to 
honor the guest of the evening. 

As most of the speeches were in Spanish, and the 
whole would fill a volume like this to the exclusion of 
all other matter, I can only give a few of the most im- 
portant. 

The citizen President Juarez was, of course, the first 
speaker. In a brief, but well considered and well de- 
livered address, he welcomed Mr. Seward as the na- 



ADDEESS OF PRESIDENT JTJAEEZ. 281 

tion's guest, and paid a liigli and eloquent tribute to 
tlie American people and Government for their sympa 
tliy and moral and material support, in tlie trying hours 
of tlie foreign invasion of Mexico, at tlie same time 
briefly recounting tbe services rendered by Mr. Seward 
himself. 

After the band had played the ''' Star Spangled Ban- 
ner," at the conclusion of the remarks of President Ju- 
arez, Minister Nelson made the following address : 

Me. Peesldbnt, Mk. Sewaed and Gentlemen : My great- 
est regret in attempting to respond to the sentiment just an- 
nounced by His Excellency the President of the Eepublic, arises 
from the fact that I do not speak the Spanish language with fa- 
cility, and that speaking my own language, I cannot be under- 
stood by a lai'ge number of the gentlemen present. I will 
therefore be brief As the humble representative of the Gov- 
ernment of the United States, I return my most cordial thanks 
for the toast in honor of that illustrious soldier and patriot who 
presides over the destinies of that Republic, and who, without 
previous experience as a statesman, is so discharging the duties 
of his great office as to command the confidence of a large major- 
ity of his countrymen and the respect of the civilized world. 
No man living more earnestly desires the peace, happiness, and 
prosperity of Mexico than the President of the United States. 
At the head of our armies he fought not only for the preserva- 
tion of the American Union, but also for the American system 
of Government. Our victories were, therefore, your victories — 
our defeats your defeats. The success of the rebellion, would 
in my opinion, have resulted in the utter destruction of popu- 
lar governments and republican institutions, there, here, and 
everywhere. No wonder then, that the patriots of Mexico and 
of all Spanish America — no wonder that people of every na- 
tion, kindred, and tongue, and representing every system of 
government — watched and waited with the most intense solici- 
tude, the waveriQg fortunes of the conflict. The world com- 



282 ADDEESS OF U. S. MINISTER NELSON. 

preliended the grandeur and magnitude of the issues involved. 
It was not, as was alleged by certain European statesmen, a con- 
test for power on the one hand, and independence on the other ; 
the war was not waged merely to crush a gigantic insurrection, 
or merely to destroy the curse of human slavery — but the Un- 
ion armies were also fighting for those great principles which lie 
at the fomidation of all free governments. The result of that 
contest, encouraged and strengthened republican governments, 
and the grandest problem that was ever submitted to human 
society, was solved — whether mankind could be trusted with a 
purely popular government. The victorious sword of Grant, 
and the earnest patriotism of the immortal Lincoln, aided 
by the wise statesmanship of Seward, settled these questions 
finally, and forever. The problem is solved. Republican gov- 
ernments can successfully resist the most powerful combina- 
tions, and do possess more energy, strength, and recuperative 
power, than any other system. 

Another question was settled — a question which was the in- 
evitable corollary of that war — I mean that of European inter- 
vention in American afiairs ; and it was decided, that Em'opean 
powers, cannot with impunity approach, too nearly, the ark of 
American liberties. The moral aid of om- Government, con- 
ducted and directed by Mr. Seward, combined with the patriot- 
ism of your soldiers and statesmen, relieved this beautiful coun- 
try from foreign domination. Many a time and oft, as Mr. Ro- 
mero can testify, did General Grant manifest his warm sympa- 
thy for the struggling patriots of Mexico, dm-ing the interven- 
tion ; and since his elevation to the Presidency, on the occasion 
of the ofiicial presentation of the distinguished Minister from 
this Re]3ublic, he used these memorable words : and what 
President Grant says I need hardly add he means : 

" Yourpre^^ous residence in tlie United States has made you 
familiar with its institutions and its people, and must have sat- 
isfied you tliat its Government shares the views of the Mexi- 
can statesmen who deem a Republic the form of government 
best suited to develop the resources of that country and to 
make its people happy. For myself, I may say, it is not neces- 



ME. LERDO S EESPO]S"SE. 283 

saiy for me to proclaim, that" mj sympathies were always with 
those struggling to maintain the Republic, that I rejoiced when 
the evident will of the people prevailed in their success, and that 
they have now my best wishes in their labors to maintain the 
integrity of their country, and to develop its natural wealth. 
I am prepared to share in your efforts to continue and increase 
the cordial, social, industrial, and political relation, so happily 
existing between these two Republics." 

It is the desire of the President of the United States that 
Mexico should be, and forever remain, free, sovereign, and inde- 
pendent ; that she may wisely reap the fruits of her Adctories ; that 
she may pass safely through every ordeal to which she may be 
subjected, and surmount every obstacle in the pathway of her 
prosperity, and that friendly relations between our respective 
Governments and people may be perpetual. 

Gentlemen, I have the honor to propose the health of His 
Excellency, the President of Mexico, and the peace, happiness, 
and prosperity of the Republic. 

Lerdo de Tejada, Minister of Foreign Relations, re- 
sponded to Mr. Nelson in an eloquent and effective 
speech in Spanish. Mr. Lerdo's remarks were received 
with loud applause. The band played Yankee Doodle, 
and Mr. Seward then arose amid the acclamations of 
the entire company, and addressed the guests in a low 
but distinct and em|)hatic voice as follows : 

Pkesident of the Republic of Mexico and Geisttlemen : 
In an assembly where I am surrounded by four hundred Amer- 
ican patriots and statesmen, the time which can be allowed to 
me to engage attention is very short, and the words which I 
may speak, however earnest, ought to be few and simple. The 
sentunents of a grateful nature no less than profound respect 
and loyal sympathies for this august assemblage, oblige me to 
express humble thanks from the depth of my heart for this hos- 
pitality and friendly welcome. Pardon me, gentlemen, for say- 



284 ME. SEWARD ^S ADDRESS. 

ing that these grateful emotions have brought up with them a 
somewhat painful apprehension that those who have bestowed 
this generous welcome upon me, may, to patriots of a less con- 
fiding disposition, seem to have incurred tlie fault of forgetting 
the interests of their own country, in extending their hospital- 
ity to a stranger. I have been accustomed to study and con- 
template the commerce of the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of 
the United States, the teeming wealth of the Mississippi Yal- 
ley and the golden treasures of the Rocky Mountains and the 
Sierra Nevada, and, I believe, without having awakened a sus- 
picion of personal cupidity. I do not think it necessary, there- 
fore, to disclaim that unworthy motive for my visit here, when, 
for the first time, standing among the mines of Guanajuato, 
Potosi, and Real del Monte, and contemplating with wonder 
and admiration the grains, and fruits, and flowers of temperate 
though tropical Mexico. As little, perhaps, need I disclaim 
common individual ambition as a motive of my visit to Mex- 
ico. Certainly, I ought to know now, if I have never known 
before, that the people of Mexico wisely reserve political places 
and honors not for foreign adventurers, but for their own loyal 
and patriotic citizens. 

But what shall be said of the ambition of the United States, 
and of my supposed share in that ambition ? Certainly, only 
this need be said, that while that ambition is always less than I 
would inspire my Government with, I am neither its agent nor 
in any sense its representative. But what shall be said of the 
ambition of the United States as a nation, and of my own com- 
plicity therewith? On this point I answer with a full and 
frank confession. C.The people of the United States, by an in- 
stinct which is a peculiar gift of Providence to nations, have com- 
prehended better than even their government has ever yet done, 
the benignant destinies of the American Continent and their 
own responsibility in that important matter. They know and 
see clearly, that although the colonization, and initiation of civ- 
ilization in all parts of this continent was assigned to Euro- 
pean monarchical States, yet that in perfecting society and civi- 
lization here, every part of the continent must sooner or later 



MR. sewaed's addeess. 285 

be made entirely independent of all foreign control, and of 
every form of imperial or despotic power — tlie sooner the bet- 
ter. Universally imbned with this lofty and magnanimous 
sentiment, the people of the United States have opened their 
broad territories from ocean to ocean, and from the lakes to the 
gulf, freely to the downtrodden and oppressed of all nations, 
as a republican asylum. In their Constitution they have writ- 
ten with equal unanimity and zeal, the declaration that to 
all who shall come within that asylum they guarantee that 
they shall be forever governed only by republican institutions. 
This noble guarantee extends in spirit, in policy, and in effect 
to all other nations in the American Hemisphere, so far as may 
depend on moral influences, which in the cause of political truth 
are always more effective than arms. Some of those nations 
are communities near the United States, which, while they are 
animated like the American people, with a desire for repub- 
lican institutions, and will not willingly submit to any other, 
are yet by reason of insufficient territory, imperfect develop- 
ment, colonial demoralization, or other causes, incapable of in- 
dependently sustaining them. To these, as in the case of the 
ancient Louisiana, Florida, Alaska, St. Domingo and St. 
Thomas, the people of the United States offer incorporation 
into the United States, with their own free consent, without 
conquest, and when they are fully prepared for that important 
change. Other nations on the continent, liberally endowed 
with the elements and virtues of national independence, pros- 
perity, and aggrandizement, more matured and self-reliant, 
cherishing the same enlightened and intense desire for republi- 
can institutions, have nobly assumed the position and exercised 
the powers of exclusive sovereignty. Of this class are Mexico 
— older as a nation, but newer as a republic than the United 
States — Venezuela, and Colombia, the Central American States, 
Peru, the Argentine Republic, and Chili. These republics 
have thus become, and are gladly recognized by the people of 
the United States with all their just claims and pretentions of 
separate sovereignty, fraternal republics and political allies. 
To the people of the United States the universal acceptance of 



286 



MR. SEWARD S ADDRESS. 



republicanism is necessary, and happily it is no less necessary 
for every nation and people on the continent. Who will show 
me how republicanism can be extended over the continent upon 
any other principle or under any other system than these ? K 
I forbear from dilating upon the influence which North America 
and South America with all their archipelagoes firmly estab- 
lished and fraternally living under republican institutions, must 
put forth and will put forth in advancing civilization through- 
out the world, it is because I have already said enough to show 
that loyalty and patriotism on the part of a citizen of one 
American Eepublic is, in my judgment, not only consistent but 
congenial with the best wishes for the welfare, prosperity and 
happiness of all other American Tlepublics. 

I give you, gentlemen, the health of President Benito Ju- 
arez — a name indissolubly associated with the names of Presi- 
dents Lincoln, Bolivar, and Washington, in the heroic history 
of Republicanism in America, i 

Mr. Seward's remarks were translated into Spanish, 
and reported by Senor Iglesias, Minister of Justice, 
and tlius rendered, were loudly and empliatically ap- 
plauded by Mexicans of all shades of political opinion 
j)resent. 

SeiSor Don Valentine Baz, Vice President of Con- 
gress, followed witb a brief speech, closing with a 
toast, " To the Congress of the United States of North 
America." To this Mr. Seward responded as follows : 

The distinguished Mexican speaker proposed a sentiment in 
honor of the Congress of the United States. Being the only per- 
son present who has been a member of that august body, I am 
expected to respond. Two things are necessary in every repub- 
hc ; one is a President, the other is a Congress. The safety of 
the State is the proper care of the President ; the liberty of the 
people is the proper care of the Congress. May God now and 



ALTAMIEAJSrO, THE INDIAlsr OEATOK. 



287 



always endow all Presidents and all Congresses with the wis- 
dom necessary for tke discharge of their supreme responsibili- 
ties. 

Senor Savadera, Minister of Gu"bernacioii, spoke 
next, and Deputado Eojo followed him, each giving, as 
did all the subsequent speakers, a sentiment in honor 
of Mr. Seward and the " moral alliance of the Ameri- 
can Kepublics for the defence of republican institutions 
against foreign aggression." 

Then came the great speech of tke evening — that of 
the homeliest and cleverest orator in Mexico, the Indian 
scholar, radical republican, 
brave soldier, and anti- 
Church statesman, Ignacio 
M. Altamii-ano of Guer- 
rero. This singular rep- 
resentative man of the 
aboriginal race of Mexico 
has nothing in his personal 
appearance to attract the 
attention of the casual ob- 
server, but the magical 
effect of his impassioned 
eloquence is beyond description, and one must see and 
listen to him to comprehend it. 

Born of Aztec parents in the State of Michoacan, and 
reared in the strict observance of the Catholic faith, 
this man has educated himself up to a standard seldom 
attained in the United States, or Europe, and learned 
to hate the priesthood who for centuries held in abject 
slavery the consciences and minds of millions of kis 
race, with a hatred whick finds expression in such lan- 




IGNACIO M. ALTAJimAKO. 



288 PLAIN TALK TO CHURCH DIGNITARIES. 

guage as tliat wliich lie made use of a year or two since, 
wlieii lie sliook his finger at the assembled dignitaries 
of the Church, and exclaimed with an emphasis and 
earnestness which had in it the spirit of prophecy : 

"Look you, sirs! That henceforth you walk in the 
strait and narrow way, turning neither to the right nor 
to the left, as becomes the followers of the meek and 
lowly Jesus of Nazareth, or jDrepare for the inevitable 
day, in which the long suffering people of Mexico, shall 
arise in their might, level your proud temples to the 
dust, and scatter the fragments of your pagan idols to 
the winds ! " 

Of his speech on this occasion I give a very hasty 
translation, made by Senor Don Miguel Pedrorena, of 
San Francisco, premising however, that no translation 
however perfect, can give a clear idea of the torrent of 
fiery eloquence which flows from his lips when he warms 
to his subject. As he proceeded all the guests left 
their seats, and stood around the chair of the President 
to listen in silence only broken from time to time by 
enthusiastic applause, in which all joined. 

Gentlemen : — The Minister of one of the republics of South 
America, perhaps the most flourishing, said, a few years ago, 
referring to the honoi-s that had been tendered by his country 
to the illustrious Cameron and S. Martin, that " Those nations 
only that are grateful, deserve to be assisted." 

A holy maxim, that has been stamped forever in the conscience 
of the people, the observance of which has raised them to the 
highest pinnacle of power, and the forgetfulness of which 
has dragged to degradation the most famous and powerful em- 
pires. The republics of this new Continent should always keep 
in their minds this maxim, that we may never forget it, if we 
wish to see America occupy that position that has been assigned 



ALTAMIEANO's ADDRESS. 289 

to it by the laws of civilization, tliat is to say, tlie first in the 
world. Gentlemen, the motive that to-day unites us in this 
banquet, is one of friendship toward our venerable guest. 

This banquet is not to the foreign monarch, who, leaving his 
throne for a few days to travel among us, is received with ofii- 
cial ovations ; nor to the fortunate conqueror, whom we see in our 
banquet, raising the cup to his lips with a bloody hand, a ban- 
quet offered through fear ; but it is the apostle of human dig- 
nity and honor, the defender of the dignity of America, and one 
of the most venerable patriarchs of liberty, whom we welcome 
in our midst, and in honor of whom we decorate with flowers 
our Mexican homes, and tender to him our sympathies and ad- 
miration. See him ! you see on his forehead no crown ; but 
those venerable locks, those white locks which show his age — 
what an age ! that shows us all that those years have been con- 
secrated to the service of his country, consecrated for the good 
of all. 

I forget, seeing Mr. Wm. H. Seward among us, the great 
statesman of the age, the premier of the United States. I see 
and only wish to see, in him, the friend of humanity, the enemy 
of slavery, and the liberator of the unhappy negro. Slavery ! 
The infamous spot of the old world, the legacy left us by the 
past century, like a hereditary infirmity to modern civilization ! 
That slavery which the Greek and Eoman republics were not 
great enough to blot out from their codes of laws ; that the bar- 
barians of the middle ages took up with pleasure, as an auxil- 
iary to their brute force ; that slavery that even Christianity was 
unable to destroy ; there was a time when the whole world 
seemed to believe that slavery was one of the precepts of Divine 
rights. That the Pagan world should have allowed and sup- 
ported this servitude, was not strange, but that the Christian 
world should tolerate it was atrocious. 

But the time came when this should have a change. The 
Democracy of the United States, that ought to have been the 
strongest party in existence, was born with this hereditary dis- 
ease of slavery. The English Puritans and the Quaker Wm. 
Penn, had tried to form in this virgin country, (America) an 



290 ALTAMIRANO'S ADDRESS. 

evangelical society ; but shortly after the arrival of the Puritans 
at the traditional rock, a ship from Holland put ashore on the 
borders of the James, the first group of slaves landed in the 
United States. From this on, the slave trade was carried on 
with force. Even Washington did not dare to interfere with 
this subject. And here let me say, for the honor of the fathers 
of Mexican independence, that they inscribed on their banners 
in 1810, the words " Abolition of Slavery." 

But some few in the United States thought, and justly, that 
liberty was dishonored there by the existence of slavery. 
Among these could be found the Hon. Wm. H. Seward. Not 
satisfied with the idea, they set their shoulders to the gigantic 
task of washing away the dark cloud that obscured the stars and 
stripes of their noble flag. Gigantic task, I say, that threatened 
to annihilate those that should attempt it. John Brown raised 
the flag, and marched to martyrdom. Then two men appeared 
to whom power offered an opportunity to realize their wishes. 

Abraham Lincoln and Wm. H. Seward were competitors for 
the Presidency of the Republic. The first being the choice of 
the people, he immediately called to Mr. Seward to standby 
him in his work, and both together triumphed over their 
enemies. 

The Emancipation decree was proclaimed on the twenty-sec- 
ond of September, 1862. You all know the rest. The most 
bloody civil war that has ever been witnessed, agitated that 
country with all its horrors, but Divine Providence — always 
jfist — put an end to it, giving the victory to the humane cause 
of the North. The thunderbolt fell, the heavens became serene, 
the dead were taken up from the battle-fields, the blood was 
washed away, and under the splendor of the rainbow appeared 
the slaves, with their chains broken asunder, and their foreheads 
illuminated with the sun of equality. The American flag now 
flies before the whole world free of stain, saying to the nations 
of the world, " The Liberty of America raises itself devoid of 
reproach." Such is the work done by these apostles of Frater- 
nity, whom not even the crown of martyrdom has failed to 
visit ! The venerable William H. Seward is one of these apos- 



TRIBUTE TO THE UNITED STATES PEESS. 291 

ties. His heart, his thoughts, his whole life, have been con- 
sumed in the task that gave for a result, victory. How can we 
pay the homage due to his virtue ? Gentlemen, in honor of 
avenged humanity, let us drink to the illustrious American, 
"William H. Seward, who honors mankind ! 

Speeches and sentiments then followed thick and fast. 
Among the speakers were Senor Sierra, M. C, Senor 
Santa Cilia, son-in-law to President Juarez, Col. Alcer- 
raca, Senor D. D. Alandrina, Senor Alcala, Deputy 
from Yucatan, Senor Arias, from the State Department, 
Senor Garcia Flores, Senor Urquida Bvanco, Deputy 
fi'om Chihuahua, Gen. Zerega, one of the ablest speak- 
ers in the country, Senor Lafraga, Judge of the Supreme 
Court, Seiior Rojo, and General Landman. 

Senor Herrera, M. C. made an excellent speech in 
acknowledgment of the services rendered to the cause 
of liberty in both republics by the press of the 
United States. He paid the only just and comprehen- 
sive tribute to the power of the press, which I heard in 
Mexico, and gave as a sentiment : " The Press of the 
United States of America," calling on the writer to 
respond. My readers will, I trust, pardon me for the 
apparent egotism of reporting my own remarks on this 
occasion, as I was requested to do so, — for reasons which 
can hardly fail to be apparent, — by the party whose 
vdsh I would be most anxious under any circumstances 
to gratify : . 

" Senor President and Gentlemen : For perhaps the hun- 
dredth time in my life, probably more through the partiality of 
my friends than from any merit of my own, I find myself call- 
ed upon to respond to the sentiment of ' the Press.' 



292 RESPONSE BY COL. EVANS. 

Standing before men whose names and deeds have already 
passed into history and become indissolubly connected with the 
<^t story of the progress of mankind, and amid scenes around 

which is gathered half tlue romance of the world's history, I 
cannot but be proud beyond measure, to be regarded as even 
the hnml)lest representative of that mighty institution of civili- 
zation, which is not only ' the power behind the throne, but a 
power greater than the throne itself, a power before whose irre- 
sistible attacks all the thrones of the Earth are crumbling into 
dust to-day. 

That the press of the United States of North America, and 
the press of the United States of Mexico may henceforth mani- 
fest the spirit of mutual forbearance and conciliation, and cul- 
tivate that spirit of fraternal kindness so necessary for the pres- 
ervation of the peace, internal and external, of the two Repub- 
lics, and ensure their progress, development and enlightenment, 
is, I believe, the sincere wish of every honorable journalist in 
America today ; it certainly is my own. 

Thus much for the press. And now a word on a subject 
still nearer and dearer to my heart. 

Mexico ! the valor of your sons has been proven on a hun- 
dred well fought battle fields and their patriotism there is now, 
thank God, none to gainsay. Happy indeed am I to see 
around me to night some of the brave sons of my own proud 
city by the Sunset Sea, who have fought gallantly side by side 
with the sons of Mexico, for the triumph of Republican insti- 
tutions. 

Mexico ! The sun of your tropic clime is only less warm 
than the hearts of your children, and the flowers of your fields 
only less beautiful than the daughters of your land, whom I 
have known and loved and honored long and well. 

But mightier far than the power of the press, grander than 
the courage of the soldier, nobler than the devotion of the pa- 
triot, more beautiful than all the flowers of the valley, are the 
memories, sweet and tender, and holy, which cluster around the 
sacred name of ' Mother.' 

Gentlemen: the good son honors his mother; he who 



AN IMPEO VISED POEM. 293 

honors his mother, will honor his country. For the honor of 
your country and of mine, let me ask you to drink with me to 
the health of ' the Mothers of Mexico,' so nobly represented in 
the person of the ever respected wife of your Citizen President 
Benito Juarez." 



Mr. Iglesias having passed many high compliments 
upon the King of Prussia, and the North Grerman Con- 
federation, Mr. Schlozer responded ; Ms speech being in 
French, was understood by most of his Mexican hear- 
ers, and was greatly applauded. 

No Mexican banquet is complete without its poem 
and on this occasion, Mr. Justo Sierra composed at the 
table, and immediately read, amid great applause, the 
following, which I give as a fair sample of what the 
improvisadores, who abound among all classes of the 
people, are capable of doing on the moment. It is im- 
possible to translate it into English, without utterly 
spoiling it. 

" Salud a la immortal, salud y gloria 
Al arco de la alianza americana 
Que esculpiera en el bronce de la historia 
El credo de la fe republicana. 
Salud a la que un dia 
En el campo broto de la conciencia, 

Y sacudiendo la Bretana ropa 
Anadio al diccionario de la Europa 
Una palabra nueva : ' independencia,' 

A la immortal que removiendo el seno ' 

Del nuevo Continente, 

Serena y sin encono 

Descorrio sus immensos pabellones 

Y alii sento, al trabajo sobre un trono 

Y alii se bizo adorar de las naciones. 



294 SOUVENIKS OF THE BANQUET. 

Hurra, salud d la divina madre 
Que en su mente sublime engendro altiva 
La gran locomotiva, 
El Mesias do fierro, el gigantesco 
Arado, en cuyo surco brota inmensa 
La cosecha sagrada de los libres, 
• Y abandonando el fatigado suelo 

Lanza espiralcs de humo, en donde pura 
La oracion del trabajo sube al cielo. 
En el zodiaco augusto de los tiempos 
Mantendra Dios con su mirada austera 
La gran constelacion donde fulgura 
La luz continental de su bandera; 

Y el dia en que se escondan para siempre 
Romas y reyes, dulce y apacible 

Del hurra de los pueblos se desprenda 
Rechazando el cortejo funerario 
La libertad, lucero en el Calvario 

Y sol en la conciencia de los siglos." 

The banquet ended at midniglit, tlie guests of the 
opposite nationalities taking the little flags of Mexico 
and the United States, which adorned the table, away 
with them as souvenirs. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

CONTINUATION OF THE FESTIVITIES. 

/^N Monday, tlie 6t]i of Deeem'her, tlie Seward party, 
^^ at the invitation of Francisco Foster, Miguel Pedro- 
reno. Major Hoyt and Mr. Toler of California, started at 
10 A. M., from tlie Paseo de la Vija, in company with tlie 
family of President Juarez, Mrs. Romero and Mrs. Al- 
len, Mr. and Mrs. Skelton, Doctor Manfred and daugh- 
ter, Col. Geo. M. Green, Gen. Slaughter, Major Clarke, 
Senor Antonio Mancillas and mfe, Senorita Dolores 
Mejia, and others, on a boat excursion up the Grand 
Canal towards Lake Chalco. 

The party occupied five boats, the musicians another, 
and the wines and provisions in charge of the servants, 
a seventh. Each boat was about twenty feet in length, 
six or seven broad, and flat-bottomed. Two stout boat- 
men in each boat poled the flotilla up the canal against 
the strong current, which comes down from Lake Chal- 
co, into Lake Tezcoco, at the rate of fom' miles per 
hour. 

We passed the newly finished monument to the 
memory of Guatamozin, on the spot where that mon- 
arch made his final stand against Cprtez, was defeated, 
and made prisoner — ^the tree at the foot of which he was 
roasted by the Spaniards to make him reveal his treas- 
ures, still blackened by the fire, can be seen to-day, at 
Chapultepec — and for twelve miles through the famous 
"floating gardens of Mexico." These gardens are all 



296 A SMALL WATER-PAETY. 

stationary now, or at least, all those along the banks of 
the canal, having been anchored down ])y cotton- wood 
trees planted along their edges, which taking deep root, 
have fixed their hold iirmly in the earth below the wa- 
ter. They rise, at most, Tjut two or three feet above the 
surface of the water, and are in the form of oblong 
squares, and perfectly level. Every description of gar- 
den vegetables, corn, etc., etc., grow finely on these 
marsh gardens, many of which are fringed with tall 
cane, and most of them are highly cultivated. Hun- 
dreds of boats, loaded with " produce," were met com- 
ing down the canal, and others conveying passengers, 
or loaded mth stable manure from the city, being car- 
ried out to the gardens, were seen at every point. There 
were also many little canoes, each about twelve feet 
long, and two feet wide, hollowed fi'om the trunk of a 
single tree, in which stalwart Indians were poling their 
families up and down the canal. 

A detachment of cavalry galloped along the banks 
as the flotilla moved up the canal, to guard it against a 
possible attack. It was a curious sight to sere these 
bronze-hued soldiers of the Aztec blood guarding a party 
of another race, galloping across the bridge which Cor- 
tez seized and held as his first point of vantage against 
the city, which their ancestors defended with such 
desperate but fruitless valor against the Spanish inva- 
ders. 

Disembarking for a few minutes, at the old, ruinous 
town of Santa Anita, we went on to an Indian village 
with an unpronounceable name, and a tumble-down, old 
church — in which the priest w^s hearing confessions from 
kneeling women, on both sides of his open box at the 
same time — and there disembarked for the final picnic. 



PICN-IC AT AN INDIAN VILLAGE. 29 1 

All the way up tlie canal we had be^ii indulging in 
Mexican music, Frencli and Spanish wines, and the mu. 
sic of other days, alternately ; the Hymn of Zaragoza, 
John Brown, the Danza, Home sweet Home, Star Span- 
gled Banner, American cheers and the popping of cham- 
pagne mingling in strange confusion. 

A bountiful collation, picnic style, was spread be- 
neath the trees and discusse(i with keen relish. We 
had not seen a single unpleasant day during the month 
that we had been in the City of Mexico, and on 
this occasion, the ladies, clad in thin stuffs and with- 
out shawls or capes, danced with the gentlemen of our 
party in the open air, for hours, as they might have 
done in New York in June, and felt no subsequent ill- 
effects from it. 

After numerous toasts, and a very facetious speech 
by Major Hoyt in response to the sentiment of " the 
child, above all others of which I am proud — Califor- 
nia," — by Mr. Seward, the guard were called down to 
finish up the feast — abundance of everything being 
left for them, and a novel scene ensued. Colonel Green 
between every speech and toast, called for vivas for 
every distinguished man he could remember, dead or 
alive, from Geo. Washington to Benito Juarez, Bona- 
parte to Grant, Hidalgo to General Mejia, and the de- 
fenders of Thermopolye to General Antonio Caravajal, 
all of which were given by the excited, swarthy sol- 
diers with equal good will. An o^cer of the staff of 
the Governor of California addressed them for a mo- 
ment, and offered a toast to peace and lasting friendship 
between the two republics, an enthusiastic soldier 
adding : 

" Yes ; and we will go out together as true brothers 



298 A RUNNING SEA FIGHT. 

and whip tlie whole old world into republicanism !'' 
whereupon, the laughter and cheers were redoubled. 
Then Antonio Mancillas made a rousing, red Republi- 
can speech, going even to the extent of woman's suf. 
frage, and was applauded to the echo at every sentence. 
Then the party started down the canal on the return 
trip. We had hardly got under way when a contest 
among the boatmen as to who should get ahead, com- 
menced, and the excursionists, from plying them with 
dollars to induce them to do their utmost, soon came to 
join in themselves, and a scene of indescribable con- 
fusion and excitement took place. 

The moment that one boat attempted to pass another, 
it would be grappled by all on board the slower craft, 
and a dead lock would ensue. Major Hoyt, on the 
boat in which were Mr. Seward and Mrs. Juarez, 
clinched with a gentleman, whom modesty forbids me 
to name, on another, alongside, and both, falling, strug- 
gled for some minutes, the contest ending in the gallant 
Major being drawn, head-foremost, into our boat, and 
made prisoner. Dr. Manfred, holding like grim death 
to the Major's leg to prevent his being captured, was 
drawn overboard, and then pulled out of the water 
into our boat, and paroled as a prisoner of war. Then 
the Seward boat, getting a little ahead, was boarded by 
Mr. Foster, who pitched one of the boatmen headlong 
into the canal ; whereupon, Col. Green went over and 
threw hotli of their boatmen, heels-over-head, into the 
chilly waters, and the flotilla came to a stand-still. 
• The uproarious laughter of the ladies as they cheered 
on their respective champions, testified to their intense 
enjoyment of the ludicrous scene. The boatmen who 
had been thrown over, were compensated — amply in 



CIRCUS PEEFOEMANCES AT AN OLD CONVENT. 299 

their estimation — by a present of a dollar a piece, and 
quiet once more restored, we went rapidly back to the 
city whicli we reached at night-fall, after one of the 
pleasantest days we enjoyed in Mexico. 

Among the minor demonstrations was the grand fun- 
cionhj Bell & Buislay's Circus at the Circo de Charini in 
the old Convent of San Francisco. Great preparations 
had been made, specially, for the occasion, and the Grov- 
ernment lent a military band and a regiment of its 
choicest troops, to add eclat to the affair. The grand 
court-yard of the convent is used for the circus, the ring 
covering the spot in which the dead of centuries lie 
buried, and the corridors rising one above the other, 
with their graceful pillars and costly ornamentation 
form the galleries, which are divided into boxes. What 
a change in the institutions and the religious sentiments 
of this once bigoted Catholic people this indicates, can 
be readily understood. 

Noticing that the mochos did not appear to be there 
in great numbers, I asked the reason of a common me- 
chanic or tradesman of some kind who chanced to be 
near me at the moment. His reply : 

"Because they will not submit to see the burial 
ground of their ancestors desecrated by a circus," con- 
tains more of bitterness, satire, and hatred, than I have 
ever seen before in a single sentence, and is curiously 
illustrative of the state of feeling in the capital. 

The vast audience arose and bowed, en Tnasse, as Mr. 
Seward entered, and the troops presented arms, while 
the band played the national hymn. The performance, 
consisting of the usual ring exhibition, tableaux, in- 
cluding one representing the "Moral Alliance of the 
two Republics," etc., etc., passed off well. 



BOO GRAND CLOSING BALL AND BANQUET. 

There was also a " grand fuTwion^'^ at — tlie " Teatro 
Nacioiial^'' at which an opera company gave the Span, 
ish version of " Ci'ispino e la Gomare'''' in good shape, 
though the fairy was dressed in deep mourning ; and a 
theatrical entertainment in which the " Camjyania Zara- 
zidaj'' gave us " Uncle Tom's Cabin " in Spanish, and a 
curious old cabin it was. They varied the plot so as 
to make the villain Legree get his deserts, being 
whipped to death by the slaves, to the great satisfaction 
of the j^opulace, half of whom had been affected to 
tears by the imaginary sufferings of the slaves, though 
they had most of them seen bull-fights and kindred 
atrocities without a murmur of disapprobation, and 
probably, with yells of delight. 

But the grand and closing featui'e of the demonstra- 
tions in honor of the nation's guest, was the ball at the 
Teatro Nacional on the night of Thursday, December 
9th. Three thousand tickets, of which one thousand 
were to families, were issued, and mqre than three thou- 
sand persons were in attendance. The great theater 
— the largest on the continent of America — was decora- 
ted with flowers and the Mexican and American colors 
fi'om floor to roof, and lighted within by three hundred 
and fifty chandeliers, each holding fi^om twenty to fifty 
candles, which poured down a flood of mellow light 
and blistering stearine on all below. The stage was 
carried out so as to cover all the body of the vast 
house, the fine galleries or tiers of palcos rising one 
above the other to the roof, being reserved for the use 
of those not participating in the dance. 

Outside, the scene was magnificent. The front of the 
teatro, from ground to roof, was covered with lanterns, 
the entire street, for a whole block, was arched over 



A MAGNIFICENT SCENE, 301 

and illuminated, making a fairy arcade ; and lines of 
cavalry and infantry, in superb uniform, kept the street 
clear and prevented tlie passing of carriages, either 
way. The Government paid twenty-two thousand dol- 
lars for tlie music, supper, and decorations for this ball, 
and it must have been honestly and economically spent. 
Its equal has, probably, never been seen on the Ameri- 
can continent. 

President Juarez and family, and the Seward party, 
occupied the double boxes, with crimson silk hangings 
and costly furniture, constructed for the sole use of 
Maximilian and his suite, and from thence looked down 
on one of the most magnificent scenes which the mind 
can imagine, or tongue describe. The costumes of the 
ladies in attendance were, generally, in excellent taste, 
and, not unfrequently, rich and elegant in the extreme. 
I noticed one lady who wore at least fifty thousand dol- 
lars worth of diamonds, and though this was a decided 
exception to the rule, there were many others whose 
toilets represented a fortune. 

The men were all in black coats, black pants, white 
vests, gloves, and cravats, without a single exception. 
The youth, wealth, beauty, aristocracy and fashion of 
Mexico, were fairly represented, though some of the 
most strict and haughty of the mochos staid away. 

At 10 p. M., Mr. Seward was received by President 
Juarez and family, and at 11 the dancing commenced. 
There was a lack of that animation which usually char- 
acterizes an American ball-room, but in its j)lace, there 
was an amount of politeness and courtesy exhibited on 
all sides Avhich would put us to shame. 

The dinner was spread in the corridors and grand sa- 
loon of the Hotel Iturbide — once the palace of the Itur- 



302 REMARKS BY MR. SEWARD. 

bide family — and plates were laid for three thousand 
persons. There was no convenient place for speech- 
making, except in the saloon where President Juarez 
and Cal)inet and Mr. Seward were seated. There, in 
the late hours before day-break, considerable talking 
was done. During this speaking an incident, which 
may have some significance, took place. 

Seiior Valasquez of Monterey, the President of Con- 
gress for that month, had made a most enthusiastic 
speech in honor of Mr. Seward, and in response, the 
latter called his attention to two facts in the history of 
Europe and America within the last ten years, viz : that 
the Emperor of France had a well-marked and distinct- 
ive foreign policy, and a domestic policy, both of which 
were imperial and European. The first showed itself 
in the form of an intervention in the affairs of Amer- 
ica, and an attempt to establish as a preliminary an Em- 
pire in Mexico ; and the second in the furtherance of 
the 2:)roject for the completion of the Suez Canal 
through the Egyptian peninsula which separates the 
Mediterranean from the Red Sea. On the other hand, 
the United States have a policy in regard to Mexico, 
and a foreign policy as distinctly marked, and alto- 
gether American, which shows itself in maintaining the 
independence of the sister Republic, and the construc- 
tion of a ship canal across the isthmus of Darien which 
separates the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Mr. Seward 
said " the Colombian Congress hesitates and stumbles. 
Secure for us Mr. President, a resolution of the Congress 
of Mexico, recommending the Colombian Congress to 
ratify the treaty for the construction of a ship canal across 
the Isthmus of Darien, which has already been negotiated 
between the two Governments, and I am sure that the 



THE DAfilEiS' SHIP CA]N"AL. 303 

Congress of Colombia could not resist tlie friendly ap- 
peal." 

Senor Valasquez replied, that lie could not answer 
for the Mexican Congress as a body ; it must speak for 
itself in its free and sovereign capacity ; but he would 
cheei'fully pledge his own personal support of such a 
measure. 

President Juarez then arose, and in a brief speech set 
forth the merits of the project, pronouncing it the great 
work of Republican America and of modern civiliza- 
tion. For his own part he would give the project all 
the support and assistance in his power, and he trusted 
that Mr. Seward, as well as himself, might live to see 
the noble work accomplished. Thereuj^on all the 
guests at the table, a large number of whom were mem- 
bers of the Mexican Congress, stood up, and made the 
hall ring with enthusiastic vivas for the Darien Ship 
Canal. 

The banquet and ball terminated together at sunrise, 
and the official ovations to Mr. Seward in the city of 
Mexico were over. 

The more one sees of President Juarez, the more he 
is impressed with the conviction of his being a great 
man, in the fullest acceptation of the word. In person, he 
is below the average height of men of the Anglo-Saxon 
race, and he is stout built TVT-thout tending to corpu- 
lency. In his di'ess he is exceedingly plain, but fastid- 
iously neat. Ko one ever sees him without a full suit 
of black broadcloth, dress coat, black hat of fashion- 
able Parisian pattern, and neatly polished boots. The 
only variation is on important social occasions like this, 
when he dons a white cravat and white gloves, in place 
of the customary black ones. 



304 DON BENITO JUAREZ. 

He rides in a common plain coach — no lietter than a 
first-class hack in New York — and will allow no ser- 
vants in livery about him. His manner is always quiet, 
and his demeanor to^v^ard strangers courteous and affa- 
ble, without in the least tending towards familiarity- 
His complexion is quite dark, with the reddish tinge 
indicative of Aztec Indian blood, eyes small and black, 
features strongly Indian, and the expression of his 
smooth-shaven face indicative of great self-j)ossession, 
quiet self-reliance, decision and indomitable resolution. 
There is nothing quick, nervous, or "fidgety" in his 
manner. I doubt if any man living can say he ever 
saw Benito Juarez scared, excited, or irresolute for a 
moment. 

He impresses you as one who moves slowly but 
with irresistible force, and is capable of any sacrifice 
and any expenditure of time, money, or blood to carry 
out his plans when once adopted. Whether entertain- 
ing the Nation's guest, as we saw him on this night, when 
thousands of eyes were upon him ; sitting in his bare- 
walled room at El Paso del Norte, with a price upon 
his head, and but two hundred Indian troops to 
support him and the Republic, against the mercenary 
hordes of Europe, and domestic traitors ; or walking 
in the garden of Chapultepec, smoking his cigarrito, and 
meditating on plans for putting down pronunciamentos, 
crushing the power of the Church, or establishing 
schools and providing for the education and improve- 
ment of his people, he is ever the same taciturn, self- 
reliant, hopeful, unexcitable man, believing in himself, 
and confident of the final triumph of Republicanism, 
over all trial and opposition. A horse-fancying friend 
described him once to me as " not a three-minute trotter, 



CUEIOUS TEADITION Al^B COINCIDENCES. 



305 



but a miglity good all-day horse, and safe for a long 
journey." The idea is sound, though expressed in a 
homely manner. He is never accused of forgetting his 
friends, and his triumph over all enemies and difficul- 
ties the most gigantic, stamp him as a man of no ordi- 
nary mould ; one destined to fill a remarkable page in 
the history of the world. J 

There is a curious coincidence connected with this 
man's history. When the Spaniards conquered Mexico 
an old chief, or priest, at the Pueblo of Taos in New 




THE PUEBLO OF TAOS. 



Mexico, kindled -a fire upon the altar on the walls of 
the Aztec temple there, and planting a tree in front, 
told his followers that when the tree died, a new white 
race would come from the East and conquer the land, 
20 



306 YOUTHJFUL APPEARANCE OF THE PKESIDENT. 



and when the fire went out, a new Montezuma would 
establish his power in Mexico. The tree died in 1846, 
when the Americans conquered New Mexico^ and the 
fire went out tvhen the last of the Aztec j^iests of Taos 
died at his post, in tJie year that Benito Juarez became 
President of Mexico I 

I have no faith in miracles, ancient or modern, proph- 
ecies, saints, or " old wives' fables," but the coincidences 
above related are well authenticated, and sufiiciently cu- 
rious to be worth reading. 

Time has dealt lightly with " the Don Benito ; " his 
black hair is only slightly tinged with grey, his figure 
is erect, and his step firm and elastic as that of an 
American at thirty; his teeth are white and perfect 

and his face shows few 
of the wrinkles. If I did 
not know his age I should 
— if he were an American 
— call him about forty 
years old and well pre- 
served, and no one on see- 
ing him any number of 
times would suspect him 
of having seen nearly sixty 
summe rs. He comes 
of a long-lived, enduring 
race, and in the ordinary course of nature has yet many 
years of life and the full enjoyment of mental and 
physical powers before him. 

After the grand ball at the Teatro Nacional^ there 
was a momentary lull in the demonstrations in honor 
of Mr. Seward. Private parties and dinners were given 
from time to time by citizens and officials, and we con- 




BENITO JUAKEZ. 



RESIDENCES OF THE BAEEONS A^B ESCANDOE^S. 307 

tinned seeiDg the curious and wonderful tMngs to be 
found in the Capital, from day to day, in a quiet way, 
avoiding public attention as far as possible. The houses 
of the most refined and elegant families of Mexico were 
opened to the party, and we had an opportunity to see 
the best as well as the worst phases of Mexican life. 

Many of these families and persons engaged in show- 
ing these attentions, desired to be regarded as merely 
warm, personal friends, and therefore would not willino-. 
ly allow their names to be paraded before the public 
in this connection. 

The most noticable of these private demonstrations, 
took place on the 16th of December, at the residence of 
the resident representative of the great house of Barron 
& Co., at Tacubuya, when some fifty ladies and gentle- 
men representing the wealth, beauty, fashion, and aris- 
tocratic blood of Mexico, met to breakfast with the 
party. The truly palatial residence of Mr. Barron 
contains five times as many treasures of fine art, as are 
to be found in any private residence in the United 
States, and more really valuable and meritorious old 
pictures, than we have ever been able to gather into 
any single public gallery. The magnificent residence 
of Senor Escandon, said to be the finest and most taste- 
ful on the continent, adjoins that of Mr. Barron, and is 
even richer in art treasures, several superb pictures by 
Salvator Rosa, Murillo, and other famous old artists 
being among them. After the breakfast, which lasted 
from 12 M. to 3 p. m., the guests walked through both 
houses and the magnificent grounds around them, filled 
even at this season with fresh roses and many othei 
lovely flowers, and every species of tree and shrub 
which can be grown in this prolific climate, played 



308 VIEW OF THE VALLEY FROM TACUBUYA. 

holiclie, or danced in tlie grand saloon until night-fall, 
and then separated with regret, after one of the most 
delightful days ever experienced. 

The view of the City of Mexico and the Valley, Po- 
pocatapetl and " The Woman in White," and all the 
lovely surroundings of this old, historic city, com- 
manded by both houses, is only second to that from 
Chapultepec, in any respect, and superior to it in many 
particulars. Seen through the soft, blue haze in the 
warm, mellow light of the winter sun of Mexico, the 
landscape is beautifal as a vision of the fabled Acadia, 
and looking upon it but once, one cannot but appreci- 
ate the affection which the people of Mexico manifest 
for their country in all her misfortunes and calamities. 
It is a country to be proud of, to honor, and to love, 
and — American though I am — I must give it the palm 
over mine ; had I been born there, I would live there 
and die there, nor wish for any better land to love, and 
hope and labor, and suffer for. 



CHAPTER XIY. 

AMID THE EUmS OF EMPIKES. 

"P^ID you ever go behind the scenes in a theatre after 
the play was over, the audience dismissed, and the 
actors had disrobed and gone ? I did that, in Mexico. 
The theatre was an empire, and the actors played each 
a part in one of the mightiest dramas of our age and 
time, i went to the Palacio Nacional of Mexico, and 
saw in the garish light of day, the " scenic effects," 
" stage accessories," and tawdry " costumes," which daz- 
zled the eyes of the outside world who witnessed the 
representation of " The Empire of Mexico," only three 
years ago. 

In the long hall — made by throwing three rooms into 
one, by order of Maximilian — in which the grand din- 
ner was given to Mr. Seward but a few nights before, 
I saw the full length portraits of Hidalgo and Guerrero, 
and other gallant men who sealed their faith in liberty 
with their blood, and laid down their lives for the inde. 
pendence of Mexico. With them, I saw the sword and 
cane of Iturbide, which he, under the influence of the 
Chui'ch, exchanged for a crown and a traitors death ;: 
and only a few yards off, the crimson canopy, which 
overhung the throne ou which Maximilian sat. From 
the windows of this hall I looked out on the great 
Cathedral of Mexico, with its millions of dollars worth 
of tawdry ornaments, going slowly but surely into de- 



310 PLUNDER FROM THE PALACE OF CHAPULTEPEC. 



cay, and the palace wliicli Hernando Cortez built and 
occupied, now a national pawnbroker's shop. 

Then we went into the chapel which Maximilian 
caused to be arranged for the coronation which never 
took place, and saw the cushioned seats on which he 
and his Empress were to sit while the services progressed. 
Then into another and smaller chapel, and from thence, 
to the great store-rooms in which is piled like so much 
useless rubbish, the costly trappings which adorned the 
persons of the actors and the stage on Avhich they strut- 
ted their little hour, in the last grand imperial farce of 
our time — of all time I trust ! 

In one room there are numerous paintings, and wooden, 
marble, and gilded plaster of Paris decorations from the 
palace of Chapultepec. There are two full length por- 
traits of Maximilian in his imperial robes, one painted 
in Munich, the other in Mexico. In each, the artist has 
given an almost feminine beauty to his forehead and 

eyes, and the blonde Eng- 
lish whiskers are the same ; 
but the coarse, weak 
mouth defied all efforts at 
toning down and soften- 
ing, and both artists wise- 
ly represented it in all its 
disgusting deformity. 

There is also a full 
length portrait of Carlotta, 
Avliich so closely resembles 
the fancy pictiu'es of Eu- 




MAXIMILIAN. 



genie, current some twenty years ago, as to lead to the 
suspicion of a common model having served for each. 




CAKLUlTA. 



COUET COSTUMES AND EVIPERIAL DECOEATIONS. 311 

On a pedestal near by, are marble busts of Maximilian 
and Carlotta, doubtless sculptured in actual mathemati- 
cal proportions, wbicli are as mucli unlike the painted 
portraits as possible; the 
features of each being 
coarser, and more distinct- 
ly marked and character- 
istic. Mexico is filled 
with representations of 
Maximilian, painted, en- 
graved, sculptured, and 
printed, and it almost 
seems as if he had done 
nothing else, but to sit for 
his portrait during his 
whole residence in the country. His vanity induced 
him to stamp his likeness on every conceivable object 
within his reach, and you see it everywhere. 

In a case in the same room, there is a miscellaneous 
collection of court costumes, which remind one of the 
wardrobe room in a theatre. There are gold and silver 
lace-embroidered coats and hats for the royal flunkies, 
gorgeous diamond buckles for the belts of gentlemen of 
the household, jockey caps for the outriders of the royal 
coach, silver and gold-mounted swords, and gold and sil- 
ver buttons, for senators, representatives, cabinet officers, 
generals, judges, and every other member or officer of 
the imperial government. Great, gilt monograms of the 
Emperor and Empress, torn down from over windows 
and doorways, lay scattered about, and indecent statues 
in bronze, more indecently mutilated in some cases, 
were shown us. 



312 



MAXIMILIAN S GOLD AND SILVER PLATE. 



In one room tliere is a pile of boxes filled with patents 
of nobility, diplomas of orders of military merit, and 
certificates, conferring the order of Guadaloupe of Mexi- 
co, on hundreds of persons, already signed and sealed 
by Maximilian and liis ministers. I was permitted to 
carry away some of these, as curiosities, and the whole 
will doubtless be eventually scattered over the world 
in the same manner. Who wants an imperial decora- 
tion cheap as dirt ? 

In another room I counted eighty-five large, brass- 
bound, oaken chests, some of them of immense size, all 
of which bore the imperial arms and cypher, and now 
contain, or once contained, the silver and golden plate 
which was manufactured in Europe for the imperial 
table. In the scenes of -wild confusion which followed 
the downfall of the empire, much of this plate was 
stolen by servants, or otherwise disappeared; but a 
great quantity still remains, and I cannot but wonder 

that the Government of 
the Republic does not, 
in its present exigencies, 
melt it all up at once, and 
make an end of it. 
Every piece of this plate 
bears the royal mono- 
gram, and much of it ap- 
pears never to have been 
used. 

In another roonoi I saw 

the English china dinner- 

service, in white and gold, 

which adorned the tables at Chapultepec and the palace 

in the city, each piece of which bears the monogram of 




BKOKEN PLATE FROM CHAPtFLTEPEC. 



HIS STATE CAEEIAGE AND BILLIAED TABLES. 313 

Maximilian. In the last grand banquet wMcli took 
place at Chapultepec, before tlie fatal expedition to 
Queretaro — a banquet wliicli proved a very Belsliazzar- 
feast to the Empire — ^many pieces of this porcelain 
service were broken. I was presented with some of 
these curious mementoes of that ghostly festival. 

If one-tenth of the furniture, etc., etc., said to have 
been imported by Maximilian really came over at his 
expense, I am not surprised at the imperial treasury 
having been bankrupted so soon. I saw more billiard- 
tables than would fill the largest hall in New York, 
each of which was " Max's private table ; " every saloon 
in town has one or more, and most of the private 
houses indulge in the same costly luxury. I have made 
it a point to knock the balls around — I seldom make a 
point in doing so — on all of them, and so have possibly 
played upon his private table somewhere, though where 
it may have been, heaven knows. His carriages are 
equally numerous ; everybody who can keep a carriage, 
at all, has one of them. But in a room in the old convent 
building where the Aztec relics are deposited, I saw the 
veritable carriage presented to Maximilian when he was 
on his way to Mexico, by the imperialists of Milan. It 
is a very large and cumbersome affair, a load for four 
horses, though it might be drawn on a very good road 
by two, and as rich with gold and silver plating, plate- 
glass, silk and embossed enameled leather as it would 
be possible to make it. Nevertheless, I confess to no 
envy for the couple who rode in it. At present it is 
nominally the property of the Kepublic, but I think 
that no one has ever ridden in it since the Empire went 
down in blood, and it is a useless piece of lumber. 
President Juarez, who is very plain in all his ways, and 



314 Maximilian's court and empire. 

anxious to avoid all show and ostentation, would hardly 
venture to ride in it — prol^ably could not be persuaded 
to do so — and it is now a chronic case, not of " what is 
it ? " but " what shall we do with it ? " It is said to 
have cost forty-seven thousand dollars. 

And it was for these knick-nacks and gew-gaws, gilt 
buttons^ gold and silver laces, florid pictures, marble, 
bronze, and silver statues, busts and medals, gold and 
silver plate and flashy porcelain table services, and 
tawdry tinsel and trappings, now fading away, growing 
discolored, moulding, and dust-laden, in the lumber 
rooms of the Palacio Nacional, that the royal wittol 
Maximilian of Hapsburg, bartered an empire, sacrificed 
the love and respect of all the friends he ever had in 
Mexico, di'enched the laud in blood, clad a nation in 
mourning, and finally signed a decree Avhich j)roved his 
own death-warrant, closed the door of mercy against 
him, consigned him to a bloody grave, and covered his 
name with infamy for all time ! 

Maximilian had a court as complete in all its appoint- 
ments as that of Napoleon III, but no empire beyond 
the reach of the bayonets of his foreign mercenaries, 
and all the money went in raree-shows, and such theat- 
rical displays as could be gotten up with the court-trap- 
pings which I have been describing. The bankrupt 
Prince from Mirimar lost, completely, what little brains 
he had to lose, when he found himself before the foot- 
lights playing the role of Emj^eror. The millions 
wrung from a starving and terribly oppressed people, 
or cajoled from the humbugged and swindled subscri- 
bers to the Mexican loan in Europe, were wasted in such 
nonsense as this, while the people wanted bread ; pub- 
lic improvements, which might have deferred, if not 



HIS FATAL MISTAKE. 315 

averted tlie evil day, could not go on for tlie want of 
funds, and tlie army — sucli as it was — subsisting on tlie 
plunder of helpless villages, perpetrated every conceiva- 
ble atrocity, and, at last, drove tlie wliole nation to for- 
get private quarrels and unite, as one man, in a war of 
extermination against tlie invaders. 

When money began to fail, and creditors to clamor, 
and it became evident, even to his dull senses, that a 
change must come, instead of reducing expenses, con- 
verting everything available into funds with which to 
pay the army and recruit followers from all ranks of. 
society, then inaugurating a new and vigorous, but hon 
orable campaign, he dallied and trifled, yielding to first 
one party, then the other, never being in the same mind 
two days in succession, and, finally, committed the fatal 
mistake of endeavoring to crush his enemies at a blow 
of the pen instead of the sword, and by comj^elling 
them to fight with the halter around their necks, in- 
crease the effectiveness of his own army, which wanted 
every element calculated to ensure success for his cause. 
When he signed the black flag decree, he reduced his 
followers to the level of common cut-throats and ban- 
ditti, and drove his opponents to desperation. 

I do not believe that the establishment of a perma- 
nent Empire in Mexico was ever practicable, but Maxi- 
milian might have won to himself a large and influen- 
tial party, which would have sustained him for a long 
time, and in the end mio;ht have retired from the coun- 
try without dishonor to himself, and with the respect, 
if not the sympathy of mankind, had he but possessed 
the smallest amount of practical common sense, and 
been less easily tickled with empty compliments, paid 
applause, and the gaudy feathers and tinsel with which 



816 THE AKCHIVES OF MEXICO. 

he covered Himself, and strutted his little hour upon the 
stage. 

Probably it is better as it is, and Maximilian served the 
world better as material with which " to point a moral, 
and adorn a tale," than he coukl ever have done as a 
statesmmi and a ruler by " right Divine ;" nevertheless, 
one cannot but feel a touch of regret, as he stands amid 
these ruins, and reflects upon the wide difference be- 
tween the mournful fact, and the brighter possibility ; 
what was, and what might have been. 

The archives contain the decrees and other documents 
issued by each of the different governments and admin- 
istrations of Mexico, fi'om the Spanish conquest, down 
to the present day, with the single exception of those 
of Maximilian's Empire, which are ignored and treated 
as of no validity or importance whatever. All the doc- 
uments emanating fi'om that source are kept separate, 
as having no part in the legitimate history of Mexico. 
Among them is one which must stand as a full, com- 
plete, and irrefutable answer to all charges of cruelty 
and undue severity on the part of Mexico and the Jua- 
rez administration, in the matter of the execution of 
Maximilian. The act has been denounced in the most 
unmeasured terms by the sympathizers with monarchy, 
and the admirers of royalty in the United States and 
Europe, and even men whose education and natural 
instincts have led them, in all other matters, to take the 
side of the people against those Avho pretend to rule by 
"right Divine," have been so far misled by false state- 
ments and perversion of fact, as to characterize it as a 
murder. 

Let us see the facts : Maximilian came into Mexico at 
the invitation of Napoleon III., backed by French bay- 



THE MA"SK THROWN OFF. 317 

nets and 'followed hj an army of foreign mercenaries. 
A vote, taken only in places held by tlie Frencli wtere 
the result was a foregone conclusion, and tlie entire 
movement a farce of the broadest description, as lie 
well knew, proclaimed him the choice of the Mexican 
people, and he assumed the title and state of Emperor 
of Mexico. The defenders of the Kepublic were hunted 
down like wild beasts, and killed as fast as captured, 
until all hope seemed gone, and the Empire appeared 
so securely established that the professions of good 
will, mild intentions, and clemency, with which he en- 
tered the country, could be safely ignored, and the 
mask was thro^vn off, at once. The report was spread 
abroad in advance — as an excuse for the decree which 
was to follow — that President Juarez, who had been 
pursued with the most vindictive energy by the parti 
zans and retainers of Maximilian, had been, at last, 
driven across the Rio Grande, at El Paso del Norte, 
into the United States; and thereupon the following 
proclamation, which lies before me as I write, was 
issued: 

PROCLAMATION OF HIS MAJESTY, THE EMPEEOE. 

Mexicans : The cause which Don Benito Juarez defended 
with so much valor and constancy has already succumbed under 
the force, not only of the national will, but also of the very law 
which that officer invoked in support of his pretensions. To 
day even the faction, into which the said cause degenerated, is 
abandoned by the departure of its Chief from the native soil. 

The national government for a long time was lenient, and 
exercised great clemency in order to give the chance to misled 
and misinformed men to rally to the majority of the nation, and 
to place themselves anew, in the path of duty. It has fulfilled 
its object ; the honorable men have assembled under its banner, 



318 Maximilian's pkoclamation. 

and liave accepted the just and liberal principles wliicli regu- 
late its politics. The disorder is only maintained by some lead- 
ers, carried away by unpatriotic passions, and assisted by demor- 
alized persons who cannot reach to the level of political princi- 
ples, and by an unprincipled soldiery, the last sad remnants of 
the civil wars. 

Hereafter, the contest will only be between the honorable 
men of the nation and the gangs of criminals and robbers. 
Clemency will cease now, for it would only profit the mob 
who burn villages, rob and murder peaceable citizens, poor old 
men and defenceless women. 

The Government resting on its power, from this day will he 
inflexible in its punishments, since the laws of civilization, the 
rights of humanity, and the exigencies of morality demand it. 

Mexico, October 2d, 1865. Maximiliajs". 

In other words the French and mercenary troops had 
di'iven Juarez over the boundary — he never crossed it 
but the assertion was made for effect — and the Empire 
now felt strong enough to throw off the mask and hoist 
the black jiag in form ; it had done so, in fact and prac- 
tice, from the very outset, but a show of clemency must 
be made, in order to conciliate public opinion and blind 
the eyes of the world at large, until a time arrived 
when it could with safet}^ adopt a truly imperial policy, 
such as would be in keeping with the traditions of the 
house of Hapsburg- Lorraine. 

On the next day after the publication of the above 
quoted decree, the famous and infamous " Black Flag 
Decree," which cost Maximilian his life two years later, 
was signed and issued. This most remarkable docu- 
ment of our times was as follows ; 

MAXIMILIAN^, EMPEROK OF MEXICO. 

Having heard our Ministers and om- Council of State ; we 
decree : 



THE BLACK FLAG DECREE. 319 

Article 1. All persons belonging to armed bands or corps, 
not leo-ally authorized, whether they jprodaim or not any politi- 
cal principles, and whatever he the numher of those who compose 
the said bands, their orgoAiizaiion, character, and denomination, 
shall be tried militarily by the Courts Martial, and if found 
guilty, even of the fact of belonging to the land, they shall le 
condemned to capital punishment within the twenty-four hours 
following the sentence. 

Abt. 2. Those, who belonging to the bands mentioned in 
. the previous article, are captured with arms in their hands, 
shall be tried by the officer of the force which has captured 
them, and he shall, within a delay never extending over twenty- 
four hours after the said capture, make a verbal inquest of the 
offence, hearing the defence of the prisoner. Of this inquest 
he will draw an act, closing with the sentence, which must le to 
capital punishment if the accused is found guilty even if only 
of the fact of lelonging to the land. The officer shall have the 
sentence executed within the twenty four hours aforesaid, seeing 
that the criminal receive spiritual assistance. The sentence 
hoAiing leen executed, the officer shall forward the act of inquest 
to the Minister of War. 

Akt. 3. From tlie penalty established in the preceding 
articles shall be only exempted those, who having done nothing 
more than being with the band, will prove that they were made 
to join it by force, or did not belong to it, but were found acci- 
dentally in it. 

Akt. 4. If, from the inquest mentioned in article two, facts 
are elicited which induce the officer holding it to believe that 
the prisoner was made to join the band by force, without hav- 
ing committed any other crime, or that he was found accident- 
ally in it, without belonging to it, the said officer shall abstain 
from passing sentence, and he shall send the accused, with the 
respective act of inquest, to the proper court-martial, in order 
that the trial be proceeded with by the latter, in conformity 
with article one. 

Aet. 5. Shall be tried and sentenced conformably with ar- 
ticle one of this law : — 1st. All those who will voluntarily as- 
sist the guerrilleros with money or any other means whatever. 



320 THE BLACK FLAG DECREE. 

2d. Those who will give them advice, information or counsel. 
3d. Those m'Iio voluntarily, and knowing that they are guerril- 
lei'os, \vill put within their reach, or sell them, arms, horses, am- 
munition, subsistence, or any article of war whatever. 

Art. 6. Shall also be tried conformably with the said arti- 
cle 1st : — 1. Those who will hold with the guerrilleros such re- 
lations as infer connivance with them. 2, Those who volunta- 
rily and knowingly will conceal them in their houses or estates. 
3. Those who, by word, or writing, will spread false or alarm- 
ing reports, by which public order may be disturbed , or will 
make against it any kind of demonstration whatever, 4. All 
owners or administrators of rural estates who will not give 
prompt notice to the nearest authority of the passage of -some 
band through the said estates. Those included in paragraphs 
1st and 2d of this article, shall be punished by imprison- 
ment from six months to two years, or by hard labor from one 
to three years, according to the gravity of the case. Those 
who, being included in paragraph 2d, were the ascendants, 
descendants, spouses, or brothers of the party concealed by them, 
shall not suffer the penalty aforesaid, but they shall remain sub- 
ject to the vigilance of the authorities during the time the 
com't-martial will fix. Those included in paragraph 3d of this 
article shall be punished by a fine of from twenty-five dollars 
to one thousand dollars, or by imprisonment from one month to 
one year, according to the gravity of the ofience. Those in- 
cluded in paragraph 4th of this article shall be punished by a 
fine of from two hundred dollars to two thousand dollars. 

Akt. Y. The local authorities of the villages who will not 
give notice to their immediate superiors of the passage through 
their villages of armed men, will be ministerially punished by 
the said superiors, by a fine of from two hundred dollars to two 
thousand dollars, or by seclusion from three months to two 
years. 

Art. 8. Whatever resident of a village who, having infor- 
mation of the proximity or passage of armed men by the vil- 
lage, will not give notice of it to the authorities, shall sufier a 
fine of from five dollars to five hundred dollars. 



THE BLACK FLAG DECEEE. 321 

Art. 9. All residents of a village threatened hj some gang, 
who are between the ages of eighteen and fiftj-five years, and 
have no physical disability, are obliged to present themselves 
for the common defence as soon as called, and for failing to do 
so, they shall be punished by a fine of from five dollars to two 
hundred dollars, or by imprisonment of fifteen days to four 
months. If the authorities think it more proper to punish the 
village for not having defended itself, they may impose upon it 
a fine of from two himdred dollars to two thousand dollars, and 
the said fine shall be paid by all those together, who, being in 
the category prescribed by this article, did not present them- 
selves for the common defence. 

Aet. 10. All owners or administrators of rural estates, who 
being able to defend themselves, will not prevent the entrance 
in the said estates of guerrilleros or other malefactors ; or, after 
these have entered, will not give immediate information of it 
to the nearest military authority ; or will receive on the estates 
the tired or wounded horses of the gangs, without notifying the 
said authority of the fact, shall be punished for it by a fine of 
from one hundred dollars to two thousand dollars,, accordino- to 
the importance of the case ; and if it is of great gravity, they 
shall be put in prison and sent to the court-martial, to be tried 
by the latter conformably with the law. The fine shall be paid 
to the principal administrator of rents to which the estate be- 
longs. The provision of the first part of this article is applica- 
ble to the populations. 

Aet. 11. Whatever authorities, whether political, military,, 
or municipal, shall abstain from proceeding, in conformity with 
the provisions of this law, ag-ainst parties suspected or known 
to have committed the offences provided for in said law, will be 
ministerially punished by a fine of from fifty dollars to one- 
thousand dollars ; and if it appear that the fault was of such a 
nature as to import complicity with the criminal, the said author- 
ities will be submitted, by order of the government, to the court-- 
martial, to be tried by the latter, and punished according to the- 
gravity of the offense. 

Art 12. Thieves shall be tried and sentenced in confotmity- 



322 THE BLACK FLAG DECREE. 

with article 1st of this hiw, whatever may be the nature and 
circumstances of the theft. 

Art. 13. Tlie sentence of death pronounced for offences 
provided for by this law shall be executed within the delays pre- 
scribed in it, and it is prohibited that any demands for pardon 
he gone through. If the sentence is not of death, and the crimi- 
nal is a foreigner, even after its execution, the government may 
use towards him the faculty it has to expel from the territory 
of the nation all obnoxious strangers. 

Art. 14. Amnesty is granted to all those who may have 
belonged, and may still belong, to armed bands, if they present 
themselves to the authorities before the 15th of November next, 
provided they have not committed any other offences subse- 
quently to the date of the present law. The authorities will 
receive the arms of those who will present themselves to accept 
the amnesty. 

Art. 15. The government reserves the faculty to declare 
when the provisions of this law will cease. 

Each one of our ministers is charged with the execution of 
this law in the part which concerns him, and will give the ne- 
cessary'- orders for its strict observance. 

Given at the palace of Mexico on the 3d of October, 1865. 

Maximilian. 
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, charged with the ministry 
of state. 

Jose F. Ramirez. 
The Minister of War, 

Juan de Dios Peza. 
The Minister of Improvement, 

Luis Eobles Pezuela. 
The Minister of the Interior, 

Jose Maria Esteva. 
The Minister of Justice, 

Pedro Escudero t Echanova. 
The Minister of Public Instruction and Religious "Worship, 

Manuel Siliceo. 
The Sub-Secretary of the Treasury, 

Francisco de P. Cesar. 



THE APOLOGISTS FOR MAXIMILIATT. 323 

The suborned apologists for Maximilian — tlie records 
of tlie Imperial treasury sliow that the sum of fifteen 
thousand dollars was remitted monthly to New York 
" for the press" — have asserted that this infamous 
proclamation was issued under the false impression that 
Juarez had fled from the territory of the Republic, and 
that Maximilian was deceived in this matter by the 
French. But it will be seen that this proclamation was 
issued October 3d, 1865, and Maximilian's surrender to, 
or capture by the victorious forces of the Republic, took 
place on the 17th of May, 1867, — nearly tivo years later. 
During all this time tlie hutcJiery of ]prisoners of luar 
under this decree went on^ without so much as a protest 
against it hy Maximilian^ and the decree itself was never 
modified^ nor action under it suspended for a mom£nt. 
Surely, when he stood at bay at Queretaro, with the 
Republican army surrounding him at all points, he 
could not have been under the impression that the war 
had dwindled down to a mere guerrilla conflict ; and 
still the butchery of prisoners under this decree went on. 
Only two or three days before the capture of Maximil- 
ian at Queretaro, a young man named Mercado, son of 
one of the best families of Mexico, was captured by the 
Imperial forces, and murdered within the twenty-four 
hours, as prescribed by this decree. 

Again, it is alleged that the decree was only intended 
to beheld in terrorem over the heads of Republicans, and 
was never intended to be put in force. The falsity of 
this plea is evidenced by the decree itself, which in ex- 
press terms forbids the reception of any petition for 
pardon by the officer, and directs him to report the cap- 
ture of prisoners after they have been executed, and 
not before. 



324 THE RECORDS OF THE EMPIRE. 

Then it was said that this was only aimed at the 
guerillas, and not at the regular Kepublican army. 
Articles one and two are drawn in terms which cannot 
be mistaken, and leave no possibility of a question on 
this point ; and if any doubt existed after reading the 
decree, the records of the Empire itself prove beyond 
a question, what was meant and what was done. 

Among these records, the first document relating to 
executions under this decree, is a report to the War 
Department from the State of Michoacan, signed by 
Colonel E. Mendez, and dated October 13th. In this 
report Col. Mendez details the particulars of the sur- 
prise of General Ai^teaga by his command, and adds : 

" Among my prisoners is the commander-in-chief, Arteaga, 
General Salazar, Colonel Diaz Paracho, Yilla Gomez, Perez 
Milicua, and Yillanos, five lieutenant-colonels, eight command- 
ers, and a large number of subordinate officers, a list of whose 
names I will send you." 

Appended to this report is a note by the officer next 
in command, as follows : 

"This achievement, one of the most glorious of the cam- 
paign, does the greatest honor to Colonel Mendez, and simpli- 
fies the task of pacificating Michoacan. Arteaga, without be- 
ing a skillful general, is an honest and sincere man, who has dis- 
tinguished himself more than once in his career by traits of hu- 
manity. Justice to the conquered." Ch. D. Bakkes. 

All these officers^ and many hundred captured subse- 
quently^ were murdered under this decree. Senor Ro- 
mero writing to Mr. Seward on this subject, under date 
of Nov. 20th, 1865, says: 

" This barbarous and bloody decree, the most cruel ever yet 



n 



EOMEEO'3 LETTER TO ME. SEWAED. 325 

seen, has already begun to be executed. I bave information, 
of the truth of which unhappily, there is no doubt, that the two 
generals and four colonels were barbarously sacrificed in fla- 
grant violation of the laws of war, and every principle of 
justice. 

These generals and colonels belonged to the regular army of 
the Republic, were officers of education and profession, and had 
fought for the independence of their country from the time the 
French first landed in Mexico. 

General Arteaga had reached the highest rank in the Mexican 
army, and had recently succeeded ex-General Uraga in com- 
mand, in the army of the center. He was thoroughly loyal, a 
patriot without blemish, and enjoyed a high reputation for hon- 
esty and probity among his fellow-countrymen of all political 
shades. His constancy and suffering in the campaign against 
the French, Austrian and Belgian invaders in the State of Mich- 
oacan, for the last two years, would suffice to give him a great 
reputation, if he had not already possessed one. His humanity 
was proverbial, as the French, Belgian, and Austrian soldiers 
who were taken prisoners by his forces at different times can 
testify. 

The other chiefs and officers who were made prisoners with 
General Arteaga, though they had not arrived at the high po- 
sition of their leader, were not less respectable and worthy. 

These distinguished Mexicans were executed in accordance 
with the above-mentioned bloody decree of the usurper of 
Mexico." 

Nor has the worst and most damning fact in connec- 
tion with this fearfal crime been related. The officers 
named, fell into the hands of the traitor Mendez on the 
13th of October, and he, being in doubt of the true 
purport of the decree, or willing, for his own credit, to 
appear to be so, kept them alive until the 21st of Octo- 
ber, and then slwt them all in obedience to a pererrvptory 
mandate from the Imperial Minister of War, directing 



326 

him^ on this and all suhsequent occasions, to execute the 
provisions of the decree to the very letter. Can any hon- 
est man stand here with these damning records before 
him, and maintain that Maximilian did not deserve his 
fate \ It does not seem to me to l)e possible, and I can 
only attribute the sympathy Maximilian has received 
in the United States, to gross ignorance of the facts of 
history, and his true character. 

There is a positive relief in turning from the j^erusal 
of this infernal decree, and the record of the butcheries 
performed under it, to the letters of the loyal men who 
were the first sacrificed, written to their mothers during 
their last moments. These letters should be translated 
into all languages, and published, as the most effective 
answer to the charges of cruelty and unnecessary harsh- 
ness in the matter of the treatment of Maximilian, made 
so freely against the Liberals of Mexico. Here they 
are: 

"Ukttapai^, October 20, 1865. 

"MyAdoeed Mother: I was taken prisoner on the 13th 
instant b}^ the Imperial troops, and to-morrow I am to be shot. 
I pray you, mama, to pardon me for all the suffering I have 
caused you during the time I have followed the profession of 
arms, against your will. 

" Mama, in spite of all my efforts to aid you, the only means 
I had I sent you in April last ; but God is with you, and he 
will not suffer you to perish, nor my sister Trinidad, the Utile 
Tcmkee. 

" I have not told you before of the death of my brother Luis, 
because I feared you would die of grief; he died at Tuxpan, in 
the State of Jalisco, about the first of January last. 

"Mama, I leave nothing but a spotless name; for I have 
never taken anything that did not belong to me ; and I trust 
God will pardon all my sins and take me into his glory. 



SAIiAZAK's LETTER TO HIS MOTHER. 327 

" I die a Christian, and bid you all adieu— you, Dolores, and 
all the family, as your very obedient son, 

" Jose Maria Aeteaga. 
"Dona Apolonia Magallaistes de Akteaga, Aguas Cor 

UentesJ^ 

" Uetjapan, Ootoher 20, 1865. 
" Adoeed Mothee: It is seven o'clock at night, and General 
Arteaga, Colonel Yilla Gomez, with three other chiefs and my- 
self, have just been condemned. My conscience is quiet ; I go 
down to the tomb at thirty-three years of age, without a stain 
upon my military career or a blot upon my name. Weep not, 
but be comforted, for the only crime your son has committed is 
the defense of a holy cause — the independence of his country. 
For this I am to be shot. I have no money for I have saved 
nothing. I leave you without a fortune, but God will aid you 
and my children, who are proud to bear my name. * * * 

" Direct my children and my brothers in the path of honor, 
for the scaffold cannot attaint loyal names. 

" Adieu, dear mother. I will receive your blessings from the 
tomb. Embrace my good uncle Luis for me, and Tecla, Lupe 
and Isabel ; also my namesake, as well as Carmelita, Cholita, 
and Manuelita ; give them many kisses, and the adieu from my 
inmost soul. I leave the first my silver-gilt watch ; to Manuel 
I leave four suits of clothes. Many blessings for my uncles, 
aunts, cousins and all loyal friends, and receive the last adieu 
of your obedient and faithful son, who loves you much. 

" Carlos Salazae. 
" Mrs. Meecedes Ruiz de Castaneda. 

"Postscript. — If affairs should change hereafter — and it is 
possible they may — I wish my ashes to repose by the side of my 
children, in your town." 

Things did change indeed ; and the remains of Ar- 
teaga and Salazar were removed to th.e Pantheon at 
Mexico, and entombed with great pomp among the Na- 
tion's Dead, a short time before the visit of Mr. Seward 
to the Republic. 



328 EEMONSTEANCE OF TJIE BELGIANS. 

To tlie honor of tlie Belgians in the employ of Maxi- 
milian, let it be said that they protested most emphati- 
cally against this decree, and the mui'ders which were 
perpetrated under it. 

Two hundred Belgians, who were at the time in the 
hands of the Liberal forces at Tacambaro, signed a 
formal remonstrance to Maximilian on the subject, and 
Colonel Breuer issued the following manifesto : 

Tacambaeo, October 24, 1865. 
To the Representatwes of the Belgian Nation : 

Gentlemen : The Mexican question has frequently been dis- 
cussed by you, but the chief point has been the legality or ille- 
gality of recl'uiting for the Belgian legion. IS'ow, however, an 
event of great gravity obliges us to call your attention to it 
anew. The lives of two hundred Belgian prisoners are invol- 
ved. Considering the question some time back, the force was 
intended solely as a guard of honor voluntarily offered for the 
protection of a Belgian princess. The emperor, disregarding 
the special service for which the legion was destined and the 
neutrality of the Belgian nation, ordered us to take the field, 
and being Belgian soldiers, we obeyed, and marched to the 
front cheerfully, animated by the love of war. Although we 
achieved triumphs, we also, unfortunately, sustained reverses, 
and two hundred of us Belgians are prisoners. Without taking 
our position into consideration, the emperor recently issued a de- 
cree which may cause terrible results. It announces to the repub- 
licans that after the 15th of November, all persons caught with 
arms in their hands will be shot. At the commencement of 
this month an imperialist colonel, named Mendez — an ex-re- 
publican, who sold himself to the empire — a man hating the 
Belgians, took a large number of prisoners from the republican 
army in a fight, including two generals, and several officers of 
high rank, whom he caused to be shot, without regard to mili- 
tary law, and without waiting for the expiration of the period 
fixed by the decree, stating after the execution, to persons who 



SYMPATHY FOE MAXIMILIAN. 329 

remonstrated with, him upon tlie enormity of the deed : " What 
matters it ? They can only revenge themselves upon the Bel- 
gians." This alluded to the fact that all the other (French) 
prisoners had been exchanged. 

We expected that all the Belgian prisoners would be put to 
death ; but the republic of Mexico being great and generous, 
like all free nations, deferred to act until after learning the ac- 
tion of the administration of the empire toward this Colonel 
Mendez. 

The emperor is very fond of this man. He has already sac- 
rificed our brave colonel, and he may sacrifice the lives of all 
the Belgian prisoners. 

Gentlemen, it is incumbent upon you to intervene. The 
Belgian legion desired long since to return to its native coun> 
try. It did not wish to take part in this iniquitous war, or to 
serve longer under an empire wherein such deeds are allowed 
to be committed. 

Representatives of the nation, your duty calls you to act 
wherever the Belgian name is at stake. This is not a question 
of party, but of nationality. 

Representatives of Belgium, remember our motto, " Unity 
and Strength." It behooves you to speak. We call upon you 
in the name of Belgium, whose honest confidence has been 
abused. Representatives of Belgium, it behooves you to see 
that the blood of Belgians be not sacrificed. In the name of 
the country do your duty. 

Bkettee, 
On helialf of the Belgian j^risoners taken Tyy the Hejotiblican 

army. 

But " wliom the Grods would destroy they first make 
mad." Maximilian never disowned the act, nor raised 
his finger to put a stop to the other butcheries which 
followed, and Mendez continued in his favor to the end. 
The tide turned at last, and Escobedo was compelled 
to shoot one hundred and sixty-three foreign mercena- 
ries, taken prisoners by him in the battle with Miramon 



330 ANCIENT AZTEC KELICS. 

when the latter was defeated at Zacatacas. Then, the 
whole United States rung with lamentations and de- 
nunciations of "this act of barbarism," on his part. 
Maximilian was hunted down and brought to the Cerro 
de Las Campanas, to receive the 2:)unishment due to a 
fillibuster, robber, and murderer of prisoners of war, and 
the royal sufferer had all our sympathy. Is this impar- 
tial justice between man and man ? 

The business of " finding " Aztec relics, pottery, etc., 
etc., is carried on here and in the vicinity quite exten. 
sively, and there is good reason to suppose that many 
of the articles thus brought to light fi'Om time to time, 
are veritable relics of that ancient race. I am indebted 
to Senor Miron of Vera Cruz, for some recently dug up 
at Medalin, which are undoubtedly genuine. On the 
other hand, many articles of pottery in the form of hid- 
eous, half-human, half-brute monstrosities, which I have 
had offered me as relics recently exhumed from the an. 
cient burial mounds and ruined temples, I am satisfied 
had not been buried a year, and I would not pay the 
freight on them to San Francisco if they were given to 
me. 

All around the Lakes of Mexico there are traces of 
ancient i3otteries, and I noticed that the bits of broken 
red earthenware scattered about them, are identical, in 
composition and color, with those J. have picked up in 
the valley of the Mississippi, and supposed to be rel- 
ics of the ancient mound-builders. 

Among the verital)le relics of the Aztecs over the 
authenticity of which there can be no question, may be 
mentioned the great Aztec calendar, cut on the face of 
an irregular block of lava from Popocatapetl, some 
twelve feet in height by ten in breadth, which has been 



THE GEE AT SACEIFICIAL STONE. 331 

SO often described "by travelers and scientific men, from 
Cortez to Humboldt^ and from Humboldt down. TMs 
is now built into tlie western wall of tlie great Catbe- 
dral of Mexico, and can be seen and inspected by ev- 
erybody. 

But more interesting tban tbis, is tbe collection wMcb 
I found, lying heaped carelessly together, and unguarded 
from Vandal bands, in tbe patio of one of tbe old Con- 
vents — ^now a scbool for young ladies — near tbe Palacio 
Nacional If tbis collection was left tbus unguarded, 
at tbe mercy of tbe relic bunters of tbe United States 
or Europe, tbere would not be a piece as large as a 
cbestnut left in forty-eigbt bours. Tbe people wbo cut 
into infinitesimal cbips, tbe tbree last ties, and broke into 
fragments and carried off, witbin two bours, tbe last 
iron rail of tbe Pacific railroad, or tbose ladies(?) wbo 
rusbed to tbe place at tbe table at wbicb tbe Prince of 
Wales bad been sitting in an Englisb town a few 
montbs since, and quarreled and fougbt for tbe pos- 
session of tbe cberry stones wbicb be bad spit out of bis 
moutb, would make sbort work of tbem. 

Tbe cbief of tbese relics is tbe great sacrificial stone, 
a block of fine-grained lava, sbaped like a mill-stone, 
ten feet in diameter, and over tbree feet in tbickness, 
covered witb boldly sculptured figures, and elaborately 
wrought on every part. In tbe center of tbis stone is 
a basin, holding about as much as an ordinary Ameri- 
can wooden pail, into which the blood of tbe human 
victims ran, when the Priests of the Sun, cut open their 
bosoms with flint knives and tore out their living hearts. 
From this basin a channel cut in the face of the stone 
conducted the blood to the side, from whence it ran 
down into a large stone trough, which is now to be seen 



•^32 A CITY UNDER A CITY. 

near the great stone itself. Thousands of victims per- 
ished on this stone ; some say hundreds of thousands ; 
and the blood so permeated the porous lava that the 
dark red stain can still be distinguished, after the lapse 
of more than three centuries. 

The hideous idols, serpents, and other monstrosities 
— all rudely cut from great blocks of lava — which 
adorned the temple of Cholula, lie piled against the 
wall, neglected and covered with dust, in the vicinity 
of the great altar stone. I am told that this huge sac- 
rificial stone — contrary to the common belief — is not 
that which adorned the great temple of Tenochtitlan 
which stood on the site of the great Cathedral of our 
day, but was brought from Cholula. It must have 
been a tremendous feat to move such a heavy weight 
so great a distance, over such roads, and without steam 
power. The veritable sacrificial stone of the great 
temple of Tenochtitlan, is said to lie buried under the 
Cathedral, where the great cross is now erected, and it 
is certain that the bones of many thousands of hu- 
man beings supposed to have perished upon it, fill all 
the ground where the Cathedral stands. 

It is believed by many, that nearly all the old city 
of Tenochtitlan — the Aztec name of Mexico — is buried 
under the present city, and some even assert that be- 
low that are to be found ruins of a still older city, 
built by a race before the Aztecs. However that may 
be, it is evident that Tenochtitlan was built on an un- 
healthy marsh much below the level of the streets of 
Mexico, and nearly surrounded by water. The founda- 
tions of buildings in the present city are laid very deep, 
and the walls are immensely thick. All over the city, 
wherever an excavation is made for building, old Aztee 



AMEEICAN OEIGI]^ OF THE AZTECS. 333 

relics are thrown up. Probably no city in tlie world 
now inhabited, bas so many relics of ancient days bur- 
ied beneatb it. The accumulation of centuries has 
gradually raised tbe surface of the wbole city, and 
buildings erected a hundred or two hundred years 
since have lost the whole, or a portion of their lower 
stories, in many instances. At the residence of Mr. 
Hammekin, Calle Independencia, No. 1, which com- 
prises a portion of the old Convent of San Francisco, 
I was shown a well twelve feet in depth, the bottom of 
which is what was formerly the surface of the ground in 
the patio, and the marks of old stair-cases, etc., etc., on the 
walls of the lower story, show that the filling in to 
bring it to the present level of the streets, could not be 
less than six to twelve feet, 

Seiior Altamirano, the best Aztec scholar living, 
claims that the proof is conclusive that the Aztecs did 
not come here from Asia, as has been almost univer- 
sally believed, but were a race originated in America 
and as old as the Chinese themselves, and that China 
may even have been peopled from America. He points 
out on their old maps and charts, various things which 
Humboldt misunderstood and by which he was led into 
error, and demonstrates that the Aztecs, indeed, occu- 
pied Arizona in the fifteenth century as Humboldt sup- 
posed, but only as a colony sent out from the Valley 
of Mexico — ^not as a people making a temporary halt 
on a long march in search of a new home. If he is 
correct — and I think he is — extensive excavations in 
the " made land " of Mexico, would result in interest- 
ing revelations. 

I had often heard the great Nacional Monte de Pie- 
dad of Mexico, spoken of in terms of unc[ualified 



334 NACIONAL MONTE DE PIED AD OF MEXICO. 

praise, before my coming to tlie country, and it was 
therefore, with not a little pleasure that I accepted the 
kind invitation of the director, Senor Don Francisco 
De P. Cendejas, to inspect it in all its details,and accom- 
panied my kind friend Colonel Enrique A. Mejia, to 
the place. 

This great establishment was founded, not as a mat- 
ter of speculation, but as an act of practical Christian 
charity, by Pedro Romero de Torres Count de Kegla, 
who on the 2d day of June 1774, gave three hundred 
thousand dollars in coin, for a perpetual fand for loans, 
and himself vsrrote out the rules and regulations under 
which, with some modifications, it is conducted to this 
day. 

The object of the pious and philanthropic founder, 
was to provide the poor and temporarily needy, with a 
place where they could deposit whatever they might 
have of valuables in safety, and obtain upon them an 
advance in coin, at such a rate of interest as would not 
put it out of their power to reclaim them ; thus pro- 
tecting them, effectually, from the rapacity of the pro- 
prietors of the old-fashioned pawn-broker's shops ; and 
how well he succeeded the present condition of the 
Institution testifies. 

The Spanish Vice Key of Mexico, designated for the 
use of the institution, the great and magnificent house 
erected by Hernando Cortez for his own use, immedi- 
ately after the conquest, and into which he built 
the great cedar beam found in possession of the 
Aztecs, which was regarded, for its immense size, 
as a curiosity in its day, comparable with the great trees 
of California in ours, with a certain amount of relig- 
ious veneration thrown in. That beam nearly cost him 



THE HOUSE OF HERKANDO CORTEZ. 335 

his position, in spite of all lie had done for the glory 
of God in the way of butchering Indians, and the 
honor and aggrandizement of the Kingdom of Spain, 
in acquiring by fraud and violence the mighty domin- 
ion of Mexico. It is still sound, and uninjured by 
time, though it has been removed to the Museum as a 
public curiosity, and no longer occupies its old place 
in the structure. 

The building fronts upon the grand plaza, opposite 
the great cathedral of Mexico, and is almost in the ex- 
act condition to-day in which it was left, when its 
great founder died, more than three hundred years 
ago. The same cedar beams support the roofs of all 
the grand halls and corridors, and the hideous heads, 
sculptured by his command and placed in his presence 
over the doors and windows, still look down on the 
visitor with their derisive grin, as they did before the 
Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock. The very stair- 
cases, with steps cut from great blocks of fine-grained 
lava from Popocatepetl, which he ascended, are ascended 
by the visitor to-day ; and in the great patio you walk 
over the flag-stones trod many a time, and oft, by the 
grandest fiUibuster and most pious and heroic butcher 
of all time. 

On the 25th of February 1775, this great establish- 
ment was solemnly dedicated to the honor of God and 
the good of mankind, and thrown open to the public. 
From that day to this it has never been closed, and its 
business has continued uninterruptedly, though earth- 
quakes have shaken its walls, though men and king- 
doms have passed away, and the whole political and so- 
cial aspect of the world has changed. Revolution after 
revolution has culminated in the grand plaza in front, 
or the palace beyond ; but within its thick and solid 



336 THE MODEL PAWNBROKEIt's SHOP. 

walls, all has been quiet ; aud sileutly and undisturbed, 
the work j)lanned by its founder, has gone on day by 
day, as it will go on years on years after the writer, and 
the reader of to-day, shall have been forgotten. 

I can conceive of no more perfect system for the pro- 
tection of the interest of the borrower, than that upon 
which this institution is operated to-day ; and I wish it 
were possible for us to establish such a bank in every 
city in the United States. 

You — no my Mend, some other man — must raise 
funds to meet a temporary — it is to be hoped — emer- 
gency. A watch, or diamond ring, or some other valu- 
able is offered as security at the Nacional Monte de 
Piedad. Two valuators are called on to pass upon it. 
They make their estimates, separately, and then on 
comparison of the two, the medium is adopted. On 
diamonds and other precious stones, and similar articles 
of unchanging value, the bank will loan up to seven- 
eighths of the agreed valuation, and on articles of less 
determined and permanent value, a lesser sum, accord- 
ing to circumstances; the average being much more 
than could be obtained on the same articles in the Uni- 
ted States, by a stranger, at an ordinary pawnbrokers. 

The interest varies, according to the time on which 
the loan is made, and the amount. The lowest rate is 
about three per cent., and the average nine and three- 
quarter per cent, per annum, on all the transactions of 
the institution. You — no, our friends — boiTow money 
for a year, and can pay interest on the loan and have it 
carried on for any number of years, if desired. 

When interest is no longer paid, the article pawned 
is kept in the vaults for seven months, and then taken 
out and passed into the hands of the official valuator 



ITS CE]SrTE]SriAL AiS'^'SriVERSARY. . 33 7 

who estimates its market value, and places the figures 
upon the ticket. From his hands, it passes into the 
sales-room, where it is exposed for sale for one month, 
at the price fixed by the valuator. If not sold at that 
sum during the month, it is again re-valued, the price 
being reduced, and again placed on sale for a month. 
And so on for five months. If at the end of a year 
fi'om its forfeiture, or five months from its first exj)osure 
for sale, it still remains unsold, it is offered at public 
auction, and if it fails to bring as much as the loan and 
interest, the public valuator must refund to the bank 
the amount of the deficit, ft'om his own purse. 

If, on the other hand, — as is generally the case — it 
brings more than the amount due the bank, then the 
surplus is placed on dej)osit to the credit of the party 
who obtained the loan, and it remains subject to his or- 
der, or the order of " his heirs, executors, administrators 
and assigns," for one hundred years. If it is not claimed 
within the century, it is reasonably supposed that the 
depositor has died intestate, or moved to some other lo- 
cality, and the money belongs to the bank. The cen- 
tenial anniversary of the foundation of the establish- 
ment is now near at hand, and after that there will be 
many such sums forfeited annually. 

Three sets of books are kept, viz., those of the " Conta- 
durin,^^ " DeiJositarin^^^ and " Tesoreria,^^ and the ticket 
must exactly agree with, and the article be identified 
from each, before it can be given up or disposed of The 
smallest sum loaned is one dollar, and the largest four 
thousand dollars ; but it is now intended to change the 
law so as to admit of loans being made up to ten thou- 
sand dollars. No loans are made upon real estate or 
any kind of goods not deposited in the vaults. The 
22 



338 now THE profits have been invested. 

profits of the business were, for seventy-five years, de- 
voted to paying for masses for tlie repose of the soul 
of the pious founder of the institution; but as a gen- 
tleman connected with the institution naively remarked 
to me, " it is fair to suppose that after seventy-five years 
of* prayer, one's soul will be out of hot water if ever," 
and the masses are now discontinued, and the annual 
profits applied to the founding of branch establish- 
ments, of which there are three now in the city. 

The original capital of three hundred thousand dol- 
lars is still intact, and in addition there are accumula- 
tions and deposits to the amount of four hundred thou- 
sand dollars, so that the capital actually now in use, is 
seven hundred thousand dollars. Last year the number 
of loans made at this parent bank was one hundred 
thousand in round numbers, and the aggregate of the 
amounts loaned, one million six hundred thousand dol- 
lars, or an average of sixteen dollars to each loan. The 
number of loans seldom falls below two hundred in a 
day, and often reaches tAvo thousand. Of all the arti- 
cles dejiosited in the bank as security for loans, about 
two thirds are ultimately redeemed. The bank, in any 
event, never loses. If after all precautions, an article 
is found to have been stolen before being pawned, the 
owner must repay the amount loaned. 

SeiJor Cendejas, in order to accustom the Mexican 
people to the use of paper money in some shape, and to 
encourage them in accumulating and laying it up against 
future contingencies, has introduced the system of re- 
ceiving "confidential deposits," for which the bank 
issues certificates payable to bearer at sight, which are 
now current for their face at any point in the Republic. 
The bank also receives .jewelry, plate, diamonds, and 



THE THEEE GKAND DIVISIOlSrS. 339 

otlier not bulky valuables on deposit for safe keeping, 
the owner being required to make only a nominal loan 
of one dollar upon tkem, in order to bring it into tbe 
books of the institution. It also takes on deposit, in 
trust, from tbe courts, all moneys in dispute, and tke 
proceeds of unsettled estates, and receives one or two 
per cent, per annum for ensui^ng its safety. It is con- 
templated also to found a savings-bank feature of tlie 
institution, and by putting tke money at interest, aid 
the depositors to increase tkeir funds without risk. 

There are three grand divisions; one devoted to 
clothing, another to miscellaneous goods, and the last 
and most important, to diamonds, plate, and costly jew- 
elry. In this last named, I saw goods piled up in 
separate compartments in a single room, valued at two 
million dollars u]3on the books of the institution, and 
probably worth in the United States, at least four mil- 
lion dollars or five million dollars. The valuation of 
diamonds is at about the rate of sixty dollars per carat, 
for perfect stones of that weight, — say, at least thirty- 
three and one-third less than the value in our market ; 
and I am told that the diamonds, pearls, rubies, 
and emeralds, which are sold, are largely purchased by 
people going to the United States and Europe who 
frequently realize large profits from their sale in those 
countries. One set, which sold that month at the pub- 
lic sale, for five hundred dollars, has since been sold at 
one thousand dollars to my knowledge, in New York, 
and will be sent to Europe to be sold again. 

At this time, when there is an immense amount of 
suffering among the " middle classes," and the old fami- 
lies, who were once rich, but now deprived of all in- 
come with no hopeful future before them, at the same 



340 THE JEWELS OF ISABELLA ON PAWN. 

time that they must struggle to " keep uj) appearances " 
before tlie world, the deposits of diamonds, watches, 
and fine jewelry are something enormous, and con- 
stantly increasing. I was shown, — under cover of the 
promise of secrecy, of course — set after set of diamonds 
and peai'ls of great value, which had adorned the per- 
sons of the proudest and most haughty beauties of any 
land, many of whom are known to history. One set, 
of antique pattern, but great value, once adorned the 
brow of " Isabella the Catholic," who sold them to fit 
out Columl^us for his voyage which gave to Castile and to 
Leon, a New World. I was allowed to draw from its 
solid gold and diamond incrusted scabbard, and inspect, 
the sword of one of the famous generals of the early 
part of this century, on which twenty-seven hundred 
dollars had been loaned. 

Such a commentary on the vanity of human pride 
and ambition as may be read on each of the four walls 
of this great, cold, silent, vaulted chamber, I do not 
care to read again. All the forms which human vanity 
assumes are there. The jeweled order bestowed by 
Iturbide, or Santa Anna, or Maximilian, or some Euro- 
pean monarch ; the golden cuj) which figured at the 
baptism of some child of a noble house; the silver 
plate off which royal guests have dined ; the saint in 
frame of solid gold ; the saddle, one mass of burnished 
silver, on which the successful revolutionist rode in tri- 
umph ; the watch-chain and trinkets of the courtezan, 
and the jeweled cross worn on the bosom of the pious 
and sainted mother of an honored family, lie there side 
by side, and will go out together, to be sold to stran- 
gers, and borne away to strange lands, to be regarded, 
henceforth as curious mementoes of travel and adventure, 
and nothing more. 




\i 



THE SALES DEPAETMEJSTT. 341 

It was witli a feeling as of one coming fortli from the 
tombs of the dead past, that I emerged from this cave 
of weird enchantment, and stood once more in the 
cheerfal sunlight of day, while the great iron door 
closed with a clang, behind us. 

In the sales department I noticed an article of some 
value, which I desired for a present to one of the dear- 
est of friends, and offered to buy at the price fixed. 
The salesman gravely held it up, and asked if anybody 
present would pay more, ex[3laining that the law required 
him to do so ; and no one responding, it was wrapped 
up and handed to me. Then we went into the parlor, 
where Cortez received and entertained his guests, drank 
a glass of the bright, yellow wine of old Spain from 
Parisian glasses with the Director, Sen or Cendejas, bade 
good bye to one of the most interesting localities I have 
ever visited in my life, and strolled out upon the Plaza 
to look on the richly-clad women of Mexico with prayer 
books in their hands, walking with grave, decorous si- 
lence towards the great Cathedral ; and the thousands 
of ragged bare-footed Indians, from villages twenty -five, 
■fifty, or a hundred miles away, bearing great burthens 
on their backs, as they trudged 23atiently along, on their 
annual pilgrimage to the shrine of their adored Saint 
and Holy Mother and protector of their race, the Virgin 
of Guadaloupe. 



CHAPTER XV. 

EELIGIOI!^ AND ART. 

n~^HE stoiy of the apparition, — or rather — numerous 
-*- apparitions of the Virgin Mary, commonly known 
by the appellation of the " Virgin of Guaclaloupe," in 
December, 1531, immediately after the conquest of 
Mexico, to the Indian convert, Juan Diego, and the sub- 
sequent erection of the church of that name on the 
spot, has been often told by historians and travelers, and 
I need not again relate it in detail. 

Suffice it then to say, that on the 12 th of December 
1531, the pious Juan Diego, praying by night on the 
volcanic hill of Guadaloupe, about three miles outside 
the north-eastern gate of Mexico, and some five miles 
from the grand plaza, saw the Virgin, clad in robes of 
wonderous splendor, with a face dark as that of the In- 
dians, but radiant with a light not of earth, standing 
above in the air. She told him that in order to save 
the Indians of Mexico, and prove to them that she was 
indeed their Mother, she had appeared in this complex- 
ion, and desired him to go to the Bishop of Mexico and 
tell him that it was her wish, that in her honor a church 
should be erected at that point. He was so astonished 
at the a2:)parition that he dropped his somhrero from his 
hand, — you can see the same old hat there now just as 
he dropped it — nevertheless, he rallied his wits, and 
talked back until he was satisfied that he had the full 
pui-poiii of the message, and then hurried off to the 



OUR LADY OF GUADALOUPE. 343 

Bishop's Palace and told the illustrious Senor Don 
Fray Juan Zumarraga, first Bishop of Mexico, what he 
had seen and heard. 

The Bishop listened, but doubted. In sore trouble 
Juan Diego went back to the hill, and at its foot the 
Virgin again appeared to him, and repeated, in sub- 
stance, her first message, adding, that the Holy Mother 
Church would never be blessed in Mexico, until the 
church was erected in her honor at the point she had 
indicated. A great, flowing well or spring of mineral 
water, dark and turbid, but excellent for scrofula and 
other diseases of the body and the soul, burst out from 
the rock where she stood this time, and it is flowing yet ; 
I drank some of the water just three hundred and 
thirty-eight years, to a day, thereafter, and it did not 
make me seriously sick. He went back to the Bishop, 
and still the worthy prelate doubted. 

A third time she appeared to him, and told him to 
carry, as a proof of his story, to the Bishop, a bunch of 
fall-blown roses, such as do not bloom, even in Mexico, 
in midwinter. He wrapped them in his blanket and 
hurried to the Bishop. When the latter unrolled the 
bundle and saw the roses, his unbelief was disturbed ; 
but when the roses fell apart and disclosed a beautiful 
picture of the Holy Virgin, miraculously painted on the 
coarse cloth of the country, the dark face glowing with 
sacred light, he knew that the message was indeed of 
Heaven, and falling on his knees, he kissed the hem of 
her garment, and declared that the church should be 
erected as ordered. 

When the Spaniards, under Cortez, escaped from 
Mexico on the Noche Triste, one of the soldiers dropped 
a rag-doll, or image, and on their return in triumph, 



344 THE STORY OF THE APPARITIONS. 

they found it unliarmed, and christened it " Our Lady 
of the Kemedios." They built her a great churcli, and 
she was the patron 'saint of Mexico until the Guada- 
loupe arose to contest the devotion of the populace 
with her. The wai- w^as long and bitter, but the Indi- 
ans outnumbered the Spaniards ten to one, though con- 
quered, and they had not a single Indian saint in the 
calendar — they have not one to this day, though many 
saints have l^een canonized in Mexico — and a browni- 
skinned Virgin was something woi'th fighting for. The 
Guadaloupe triumphed, and to this day her shrine is 
sought annually by the Indians of all Central Mexico, 
while that of our Lady of the Kemedios is almost de- 
serted. 

Subsequent to the third apparition, the Virgin of 
Guadalouj)e appeared to others, and directed where 
each structure should be raised. On the top of the 
hill, w^here she first appeared to Juan Diego, they raised 
a magnificent chapel in her honor : at the foot of the 
hill where the spring burst out, they erected a chapel 
over the well, and a small but costly church in the rear ; 
and where she delivered to him the roses inclosing the 
miraculous picture of herself, they built a church 
which, though despoiled of much of its former wealth 
of gold and silver, is still a mine of the precious metals, 
a marvel to visitors from all parts of the world, and 
in the eyes of the poor Indians of Mexico the holiest 
shrine on earth. 

For two centuries, it was no uncommon thing for one 
hundred thousand people to be gathered in and around 
the church and chapels of Guadaloupe on the anniver. 
sary of her apparition to Juan Diego, and from the 1st to 
the 15th of December, the place w^as one of daily resort 
for thousands on thousands of devout w^orshipers. A 



THE SHBIlSrE OF GUADALOUPE. 



345 



raised roadway paved with lava, and furnislied \^'itli 
fourteen turnouts, or wide stations, eacli witt. a chapel, 
commemorative of the fourteen chief incidents in the 
life of Our Savior, are constructed from the northern 
gate of the city, to 
the enclosure of the 
church of Guada- 
loupe, and along 
this a thousand 
penitents might be 
seen at once crawl- 
ing on their knees 
the entire distance, 
stopping at each 
station to spend 
some time in prayer 
and med i t a t i o n. 
Of late years the 
fanaticism of the 
devotees at the 
shrine of Guada- flagellantes of twekty yeahs ago. 
loupe has fallen 

away, and the attendance is less great, — though still, 
almost incredibly large. 

The Indians come from all their villages within a ra- 
dius of one hundred miles at least, on foot, packing 
their luggage and loads of fruit and vegetables, to be 
sold to procure funds for offerings at the shrine, all the 
way on their backs. Men and women, boys and young 
girls, tramp along barefooted over the dusty and stony 
roads, sleeping by the roadside at night ; and children 
too small to walk, are carried on their parents shoul- 
ders, all the way. Even the donkeys and dogs belong- 
ing to the family accompanying them, and it is no un. 




346 THE GEEAT ANNUAL PILGRIMAGE. 

common tiling to see a comely young Indian girl, with a 
suiiicient dasli of Spanish blood in her veins to cause 
her cheek to bloom like the sunny side of a yellow ap- 
ricot, trudging along with a pet puppy in her arms, car- 
rying him to taste the holy waters of the miraculous 
spring of Guadaloupe. 

A railroad now runs along the road of the Penitents, 
and pilgrims are seldom seen crawling along on their 
hands and knees, as of yore. I went out there on Sun- 
day, Deceml^er 12th, on the holy anniversary. The 
road all the w^ay fi'om the northern gate to Guadaloupe, 
was so blocked with ox-carts, mule-carts, saddle-horses, 
and carriages, all bearing visitors to the shrine, that we 
could hardly force our coach along ; and the multitude 
on foot, raised such a dust as almost to stifle us. "We 
saw but one person — a poor old woman — crawling 
along upon the knees, by the side of the road ; all the 
rest marched, or rode, straight ahead. The cars went 
loaded. Most of the people in the better class of -car- 
riages, and in the cars, wxre wholly, or partially, of Eu- 
ropean blood ; but all those on foot, or in carts, were 
Indians. The former generally appeared to go to see 
what was to be seen ; the latter all went, unmistakably, 
to worship. 

We got within a quarter of a mile of the church, 
and leaving the carriage, made our way with difficulty 
through the motly crowd into the plaza in front of the 
church. There were probably twenty-five thousand to 
thirty thousand people, of all ages, sexes, and conditions 
there, and they were going and coming all the time. 

All the bells in the towers of the church — some 
twenty in number — began ringing at once, and the 
air was filled with their melody. Those old Span- 



SCENE WITHIN THE CHUECH. 347 

isli padres were wonderful bell-makers. With tlie very 
rudest appliances, and only charcoal for fuel, they man- 
aged to cast here in Mexico, three centuries and more 
ago, better, and sweeter-toned bells, than we in the 
United States or Europe are able to produce to-day, 
mth " all the modern improvements " and unlimited 
means at our command. 

At last, after infinite toil and jostling and pushing 
through the ragged and swarthy crowd, we reached the 
church door, and entered it. The whole worn and 
worm-eaten floor of the great edifice was covered with 
kneeling Indians, all devoutly repeating prayers, and 
many carrying lighted wax-candles in their hands. 
Quietly as was possible we worked our way through 
the crowd, and reached a central point upon the floor. 
The air was filled with the incense burning in golden 
censers around the great altar, and yellow with the dust 
which the ever-coming and going throng raised in clouds 
from their soiled garments and the dirty floor. 

The wealth once held within these four walls was aL 
most fabulous, and even now when silver and gold in 
many places have been replaced by baser metal, heav- 
ily gilded, it is still enormous. The choir and surround- 
ings of the great organ are all of precious metal, and 
the gallery, leading do^vn fi^om the choir through the 
center of the church to the great altar on the north, h^s 
on either side a massive railing or balustrade of solid 
silver, sufficient in aggregate weight to load a first-class 
railroad car, at least. The altar is surrounded by bur- 
nished metal on every side, and all the altar ornaments, 
which are almost numberless, huge, and massive, are of 
solid gold and silver. 

Wrapt devotion was on every face, but the intense 



348 SALE OF BOOKS AND CHAKMS. 

bigotry whicli once characterized tlie assemblages here, 
is fast passing away. We stood erect, though bare- 
headed and silent, amid the vast kneeling throng, and 
not a single reproachful look, so far as we could see, 
was cast upon us. Twenty years ago, had four heretics 
fi'om a distant land thus dared profane this holiest of 
God's holiest temples with their accursed presence, their 
lives might have paid the forfeit ; but while the faith 
survives, the fierce fanaticism is dead, and to-day we 
were only pitied, not hated. The confiscation of the 
Church property, and destruction of her temporal 
power in Mexico, has done much to bring about 
this state of things; and slowly, but sui-ely, the 
light of a higher and nobler civilization is dawning 
on even the most benighted portion of the people of 
Mexico. 

All around the walls of the church were tables at 
which sleek priests sold little books giving a full his- 
tory of the Virgin of Guadaloupe, and ribbons, each 
about two feet in length, on which there was a black 
mark some six inches long, and the inscription " The 
true measure of the face of Our Lady of Guadaloupe 
of Mexico." These little ribbons are suj)posed to pos- 
sess great virtues, guarding the wearer against many 
diseases and misfortunes, and every pious visitor, how- 
ever humble his or her means, carries away at least one 
of them. Each ribbon is said to have been touched to 
the divinely painted picture of the Virgin, which, in- 
closed in a solid gold frame, hangs against the northern 
wall over the high altar. I saw a half bushel of them 
brought in at once and piled up on the table before one 
of the priests, who spreading out his hands blessed 
them in a hurried business-like manner, and then bow- 



THE OFFERDSra OF A SPANISH EOVEE. 349 

iiig politely to me said, just as a diy goods clerk in 
New York, miglit have said : 

" Yes, Senor, one rial eack, kow many will you please 
to kave V 

I took a couple to carry kome as presents to some 
young Catkolic friends, and witk tkem got kis blessing 
wkick I propose to keep for my own use. 

On one side of tke ckurck I noticed a great number 
of rude pictures representing miracles in tke way of 
cures of deadly diseases, or direct interposition to save 
tke imperiled from instant deatk, j^erformed by tke 
Blessed Virgin of Guadaloupe. Tkese were kung tkere 
by tke pious recipients of suck favors, and tkey appear 
to be regarded witk muck reverence by tke simj)le wor- 
skipers. I noticed tkat tke paint on tke picture of tke 
Virgin wkick came down from Heaven witk tke roses 
wkick Juan Diego delivered to tke Biskop, kad begun 
to crack and peel witk time, but kave no doubt but 
tkat it mil be miraculously restored again, and it is 
likely to outlast many generations of mankind to come. 

From tke ckurck a winding patkway leads up tke 
steep face of tke rocky kill to tke cka]3el on tke sum- 
mit wkere tke Virgin first appeared to Juan Diego. 
Half way up tke kill is a curious structure of stone, 
plastered and wkitewasked, wkick represents tke sails, 
mast, and yard of a skip. In fact, tke mast of a skip 
is said to be really built into tke masonry. Tkis was 
erected many years ago by a pious old Sj^anisk rover, 
wko in tke kour of mortal peril on tke Spanisk Main 
vowed to tke Virgin, tkat if ske would enable kim to 
tack, and ]3revent kis galleon going on tke rocks, ke 
would do tkis in ker konor ; ske did it ; and ke kept 
kis word like a man and a ckristian. 



350 TUE MIRACULOUS FOUNTAIN. 

In tlie cliapel, wliieli is riclily ornamented like the 
cliurcli, is tlie original picture of Juan Diego after re- 
ceiving his message hurrying to the Bishoj:) to deliver 
it. I was pained to notice that the picture was that of 
a Spaniard with thin features and a slight curling beard 
— not that of an Indian at all. There must have been 
a mistake here somewhere. However, the old clothes 
which Juan Diego wore are still there, and as they 
prove the truth of the story in the main, why should 
we care for a few discrepancies in the minor details. 

At the foot of the hill, just below the main church, 
we saw where some enthusiastic explorer had been bor- 
ing for oil, with regular Pennsylvania machinery. The 
rock is purely volcanic, and pitches directly away fi'om 
the point where he was boring; nevertheless, if he had 
found oil there in such a sacred j^lace, it would beyond 
doubt have been unusually valuable for illuminating 
and other purposes. 

We worked our way around to the chaj)el on the 
north-east of the church, which stands over the great 
flowing well of mineral water which opened at the 
touch of the Viro-in's foot. There w^as a dense crowd 
around it, and all were drinking of its waters and fill, 
ing jars and earthen jugs and bottles with it, to carry 
away to their homes to be used as medicine until their 
next annual visit. I noticed that the copper kettle with 
which the water is drawn up from the well, is chained 
fast ; but that is the custom of the country, and 
must not be construed into a direct reflection on the 
honesty of the pilgrims. A Mexican lady who visited 
the well with me, tasting the water remarked, " It is 
very disagreeable !" when a woman standing by her 
rebuked her with : 



MUSTERAIi "WATERS AISTD GOOD APPETITES. 351 

" Yes, but you must remember tliat it is sent by the 
Holy Mother, and is good both for your body and your 
soul !" 

Thousands come here from long distances to be 
healed of scrofula, etc., by the waters of this well, and 
are healed. But then I am compelled to add, that I 
know springs in Arizona, Nevada, and California, which 
yield equally healing waters, beside which no Virgin is 
known to have ever aj)peared by any sort of miracle. 

The Indian-blooded crowd appeared to regard the 
festival as partaking, to some extent, of the character 
of a religious anniversary and a general holiday com- 
bined. Of the thousands who pushed and jostled each 
other in the plaza and the streets around the church, 
more than half were eating something as they went, 
and in all directions might be seen small family parties 
seated on the dusty ground, picnicing with evident 
hearty relish on the coarsest viands. Dried meat, 
mainly that of sheep and goats, particularly the latter, 
appeared to be the staple, and boiled or roasted cala- 
hras^ or coarse pumpkin, stood next in order. Here 
you would see a whole family marching along, each 
munching quietly at some part of a dried goat, the 
hind leg, apparently having the preference, and there 
another, greedily devouring pieces of cold boiled pump- 
kin, without salt, pepper, or butter. One healthy 
young fellow, I noticed gnawing away at the head of 
an ancient billy-goat which he held by the horns, and 
evidently " as happy and content as Swimley's boarders, 
the best looking men in town," etc. etc. 

Oranges, bananas, cheremoyas, aquacates, pinons, and 
other fruit and nuts were exposed on mats on the 
ground, for sale, all about, and the dealers in tortillas 



352 PALACE OF THE INQUISITION. 

and cakes of all kinds drove a thriving trade. It is 
said tliat pocket-picking is one of the chief features of 
tlie annual festival of Guadaloupe, and many of my 
friends Lave been rohl)ed there in the most adroit man- 
ner ; but our jiarty did not suffer from any 8ucli depre- 
dations, and one of us to my certain knowledge stood 
in no serious danger of heavy loss at that time. 

The whole festival reminded me of the annual pil- 
grimage of the common people to the 2:)agan shrines of 
India, in some of its features; nevertheless, there was 
an evident earnestness and religious conviction in the 
manner of all the worshipers, which must entitle them 
to the respect of even the greatest caAalers and scoffers 
at their form of faith. The great mass of the believers 
in every faith in the world, are honest and earnest 
in their convictions, and these simple worshipers at 
the shrine of the Virgin of Guadaloupe, are entitled to 
the foremost rank in that list. If simple faith shall jus- 
tify and make men whole, they, surely, have less to fear 
and more to hope for in the future life, than most of us 
who claim to hold more enlightened opinions on relig- 
ious subjects. 

Coming home, we j^assed the old palace of the Inqui. 
sition, an institution which flourished in all its purity 
and vigor in the Vice Royalty of Mexico in its earlier 
days. A grand, gloomy old pile of architecture, with 
reminiscences of untold horrors and cruelties, indescrib- 
able, clinging to every stone in its massive walls. It 
was confiscated and put to better uses long ago. Oppo- 
site it is the ruinous old church of San Domingo, and 
by its side, the little plaza in which the French under 
the Empire, used to mui'der their prisoners of war at day- 
break; the wall is still pitted with the bullet-marks 



THE PEOTESTANT MISSIOlSrS IN MEXICO. 353 

as if it had tlie small-pox. Strange, is it not, that Mex- 
ico did not love the Empire ? 

The Protestant movement in Mexico is something 
which I cannot fully understand, and which particularly 
surprised, and I may say astonished me, more than 
anything else I witnessed. I am not a member of any 
church, and profess no special creed, but as an enemy 
of every form of slavery and oppression, I cannot but 
regard this Protestant movement with interest and 
sympathy. That it will accomplish all which is expected 
of it by its friends, I am not inclined to believe ; but 
that it will be the means of reforming the Catholic 
Church of Mexico and removing the abuses which 
made it a by- word, reproach, and curse to the country^ 
I regard as highly probable. I must bear testimony to 
the earnestness and devotion of these "Evangelical 
Christians " of Mexico, and their wonderful success. I 
am not inclined to meddle much with the religious a£ 
fairs of any people, but as a matter of fact, and as illus- 
trating the condition of the country, I append the 
statement of the leader in this great movement, without 
endorsing his conclusions. The mere facts, I know to 
be as he has stated them : 

" The immense number of magnificent stone churches that 
are to be seen in the cities and villages of this republic, remind 
the traveler of the overwhelming power that Rome once exer- 
cised over this land. The convents, church buildings, jewelry 
gold and silver, and real estate that she once owned, won for 
the Mexican Roman church the title of " the richest of 
churches," A vast part of the mineral wealth of Mexico 
passed iato the hands of the satellites of Rome that swarmed 
here, and enabled them to fortify themselves till they imagined 
their position to be impregnable. Like a vessel becalmed in. 
23 - ^ 



354 STATEMENT OF EEV. II. CHAUNCEY RILEY. 

mid ocean, the Roman church seemed once to lazily float on 
an ocean of abject superstition, ignorance, and blind fanaticism, 
beneath Mexico's bright skies. But a hurricane struck her 
from the north, and the Mexican Roman church is now on her 
beam ends. 

The example of the United States led to the formation of the 
liberal Mexican party, and has constantly inspired it with the 
love of liberty and progress. For more than fifty years has 
the Roman church in Mexico unscrupulously and murderously 
fought the liberal party, and with the sword in her hand, 
stained with the blood of Mexico's best sons, tried to de- 
stroy the hopes and influence of the Mexican liberals. The 
liberal party gradually gained strength, and won victory after 
victory, until by its constitution of 1857 and " laws of reform," 
it shattered the political power of the Roman church in Mexico. 
In vain did she bring about the French intervention to recover 
her lost position ; that effort but branded her with the name of 
traitor. The constitution of 185Y, and the " laws of reform," 
emptied all the convents and scattered their inmates to the four 
winds ; separated church and state, gave entire liberty of wor- 
ship, forbade religious processions, the wearing of ecclesiasti- 
cal robes, and the carrying about of the "host," in the streets; 
declared ecclesiastics ineligible to hold offices in the govern- 
ment, established civil marriage, nationalized the church prop- 
erty, and in many other ways broke down the political power of 
Rome in Mexico. In vain did the Roman church excommuni- 
cate those who accepted the constitution of 185Y and the " laws 
of reform." They have become the laws of the land. The 
gigantic and protracted contest waged by the Roman church 
against the liberal party has convulsed the nation, impeded the 
education of the masses and left them poverty stricken. That 
contest has been condemned and opposed by a few liberal and pat- 
riotic presbyters in the Mexican Roman church. Several of these 
threw off the yoke of Rome in consequence, and tried to establish 
an independent and patriotic Mexican church, while others from 
deep evangelical convictions sympathized with this effort. The 
clergy that connected themselves openly with this movement 



STATEMENT OF BEV. MR. EILET. 355 

were called " the constitutional clergy." Many in the liberal 
party sided enthusiastically with them. Some church build- 
ings were put at the disposal of the " constitutional clergy," but 
they, after struggling against poverty, the novelty of their pc 
sition, their ignorance of what steps they ought to take to es, 
tablish a reformed church, and the many difficulties and perse- 
cutions that they encountered, concluded to await a more favor- 
able opportunity to carry out their plan. 

One of their number however determined to work on, and 
he succeeded in gathering a small congregation around him in 
the capital, niostly from the poor. I am told by an English 
gentleman, long a professor of English in this city, who knew 
him well, that he died from the debility brought on by want. 
Shortly before passing away he said to some friends who sur- 
rounded his dying bed — " in this solemn moment when there 
is no further possible earthly interest to bind me to falsehood, I 
want to testify before you all, that so long as I remained con- 
nected with the Roman church my soul was ill at ease, and full of 
self-reproach : since breaking away from it I have had peace of 
mind." To a friend he said that his trust, and all his trust was 
in Jesus. He felt very sadly about leaving his congregation, 
not knowing what they would do without him. He died with 
his Bible in his hand. They bore him to his grave with deep- 
est sorrow. His congregation yet continue to meet, and have 
done much for the cause of the gospel in the republic. 

During the French intervention many leading liberals, and 
among them some of the constitutional presbyters, visited the 
United States. I made the acquaintance of the latter and be- 
came interested in the cause they represented. Specially in- 
vited by Mexicans to come to this city and assist them to es- 
tablish the gospel and gospel churches in this republic, I have 
spent nearly a year by their sides assisting them. Through the 
dark, threatening clouds that hang heavily in the night of Mex- 
ico's misery, some stars are shining that relieve the gloom and 
inspire hope. About forty Mexican evangelical congregations j/ 
now meet weekly in this republic. Many leading men, editors, 
lawyers, and some former Roman Catholic presbyters take an 



B56 STATEMENT OF KEV. MR. RILEY. 

active part in gospel work in this nation. With deep christ- 
ian faith, purity of life, and with the open Bible in their hands, 
large numbers of evangelical native christians are now working 
with intense zeal for the evangelization of their native land. 
Statues, and pictures of saints are being frequently burnt and 
destroyed, and in their place, the ten commandments, printed 
on a large sheet, and framed, may be seen in many houses. A 
good church building has been leased us by the government in 
the capital. A private individual has given us a chapel build- 
ing in Pueblo. An evangelical weekly called the " Evangelical 
Torchlight," is published with great ability in Cos, near Zacatecas, 
A ver;y large number of christian tracts have been published in 
the capital and circulated throughout the nation. I believe that 
the evangelical congregations in Mexico might soon number a 
thousand if the gospel work in this neighboring republic were 
properly stood by and encouraged by the American evangelical 
church. 

I have found multitudes who are earnestly desirous to learn 
gospel truth. 1 have preached to about seven hundred men at 
a time. ISTew congregations are being formed very frequently. 
There are in the capital two evangelical congregations com- 
posed of lads, and conducted by themselves. One of these lads 
was recently locked up by his mother in a room for about twen- 
ty-four hours, with the hope of inducing him by this punish- 
ment to return to the Koman church. In the said room he 
found a chair, a table with a skull on it, a loaf of bread and a 
glass of water. While a prisoner he sang' hymns and offered 
up prayers. His mother at last decided that he was incorrigible 
and set him free. 

The Pueblo congregation, recently attacked by the mob, are 
working on bravely. A young man belonging to one of the 
leading families of the capital was locked up in his room by his 
mother to prevent his attending and taking part in an evangeli. 
cal service, after having thrown herself at his feet, kissing them, 
and wailing and crying and begging him not to appear in pub- 
lic in the gospel work until after her death. This young man 
has an influential position in the post-office, and circulates Bibles 



APPEAL OF KEY. ME. RILEY. 357 

and christian tracts througliout the republic with great effect- 
He sends them to governors of states, and many of the moafe 
influential men in the nation. Many young men are prepar- 
ing for the gospel ministry. How great would be the evil if- 
the Bible were taken away from the people in the United 
States ; how great would be the gift and its blessings, were it 
given to the people in Mexico, widely and generally. Numbers, 
are beginning to read, and love, and follow its teachings. Most 
of the great, advance, liberal movements in Mexico have com- 
menced among the poor. Multitudes of the poor are now en- 
thusiastically joining the gospel movement in Mexico, and are 
full of hope, expecting to gain glorious victories for Jesus and. 
His truth, in this beautiful but benighted land. I hope that 
American christians may take an interest in this gospel work 
in Mexico. Funds in aid of it can be sent — stating the object 
for which they are sent, viz : the gospel work connected with 
the Misfiion in the City of Mexico — to Rev. Dr. Butler, Amer- 
ican and Foreign Christian Union, 27 Bible House, New York. 
The little effort already put forth in behalf of Mexico has 
obtained marvelous results, through God's blessing, and ought 
to encourage American christians to greater effort. A Mexi- 
can who has been connected with the army, purchased a Bible 
some time since at his wife's request. The latter determined 
to find the ten commandments, and by them decide whether or 
no the Roman clergy in their teaching were faithful to the 
Word of God. On reading several times the second command- 
ment which the Roman church suppresses, dividing the tenth 
into two, she stood up and walked across the room to where 
she had a picture of the Yirgin Mary, that she was specially 
fond of worshiping, took it down from the wall and put it into 
the fire. Her husband. Ponce de Leon byname, was the hero 
of the defence, during the recent attack made by the mob, led 
on by two curates dressed in citizen's dress, on some chris- 
tians, when assembled on a Sunday in Pueblo. He has estab- 
lished many evangelical congregations and expects to gather a 
hundred more before the end of next year. More self-sacrific- 
ing, heroic, devoted, zealous and faithful christians than they 



358 STATEMENT OF EEV. MR. RILEY. 

are it would be difficult to meet. That one Bible that was pur- 
chased and read by them, has already been the means of great 
good. The Spanish publications of the American Tract So- 
ciet}'-, are intensely useful to us. Would that they might sup- 
ply us with them more generously. 

A Roman Catholic presbyter, from deep conviction aban- 
doned the Roman church. His example deeply influenced his 
congregation. He was cruelly persecuted by the Roman clergy 
during the French intervention, on the pretext that he was a 
liberal, and after having, as the}'' thought, " degraded him " by 
removing the skin from the crown of his head, and fijigers, they 
had him shot. The instant before they fired on him he ex- 
claimed : 

" May Jesus reign ! " 

A father died and left his two sons, among other property 
an image which they both specially valued. When they came 
to divide the property they got to quarreling about the image, 
furiously. A member of an evangelical congregation passing by 
at the time and ascertaining the origin of the quarrel, siezed a 
hatchet and split the image in two. The sons then turned on 
him, but he quieted them, inviting them to the evangelical con- 
gregation and advising them to seek Jesus. An aged father 
took his son who attended an evangelical congregation, to a Ro- 
man Catholic missionary, that the latter might argue with him, 
with the object of inducing him tc return to the Roman 
church. The said missionary commenced to draw a comparison 
which the son turned against him very prettily. The mission- 
ary asked the young man what would be thought of a person 
who, on receiving a crown full of diamonds for safe keeping, 
while its royal owner was absent from his realms, should begin 
to remove the diamonds and substitute them with bits of glass. 
The son interrupted him, and said to him that that was what 
the Roman church had done with the teachings of the Bible ; 
substituting many of its precepts with the doctrines of men, 
and then went on to prove his point. The father became con- 
vinced that the truth was on his son's side, and instead of his 



THE SCHOOL OF AET AND DESiaif. 359 

father winning him over to Rome, the son led him to the gos- 
pel. 

I trust that some hearts may respond to these facts. 

H. Chauncet Rilet. 

Among the many interesting institutions in Mexico, 
the National School of Art and Design is worthy of 
special mention. This establishment is on an immense 
plan like every other public institution, but is in many 
particulars imperfect, for want of sufficient funds to 
carry out all the ideas of its founders. The building, 
of cut stone, very costly, and substantially built, cov. 
ers a great area, but is only partially furnished and occu- 
pied. Commenced in the last century, its style of art 
is still of the ancient order, though perfect in its way- 
Many really fine painters have graduated here, and their 
works cover the walls of the vast salons. 

Among the recent graduates is Felipe Gutierrez, who 
two years since, attracted much attention in San Fran- 
cisco, California, as a portrait painter, and after earning 
a respectable sum in that branch of his profession, went 
to Rome, and there recommenced his studies under the 
most favorable auspices. I heard of him a few weeks 
since, as one of the most promising artists of the art 
capital of the world. Among the pictures on the wall 
I saw and recognized several of his. 

The Mexican people — I might say the Spanish Amer- 
ican people — have a natural talent for music, painting, 
and the fine arts generally, far beyond that of our own 
countrymen or even of the Europeans ; and the wealth 
of painting and sculpture, the former especially, to be 
found in Mexico, in public institutions and private res- 
idences, is almost beyond belief. 



'360 PICTURES, OLD AND NEW; ^ 

'■ Nevertlieless, I must confess to some disappointment 
on visiting the School of Ai-t and Design. Hundreds 
of historical, scriptural, i^ligious and classic pictures, 
elaborately, and, generally, well executed, adorn the 
walls ; but there are not a dozen, illustrative or com- 
memorative of the grand and romantic incidents of the 
Spanish conquest and subsequent history of Mexico ; 
and, stranger still, the wonderful scenery of this glori- 
ous land has been almost wholly neglected. There are 
dying saints and martyrs by hundreds, Abrahams lead- 
ing Isaacs to the sacrifice, Judiths and Holofernes, Samp- 
sons and Delilahs, Susannahs and Elders, Kings and 
Queens of old Spain and old Europe, Monks and Bish- 
ops, and Hermits and Brigands, without end. 

There are a number of pictures of undoubted au- 
thenticity, fi'om the old Spanish Masters, and more Vir- 
gins of Guadaloupe and elsewhere, than would stock 
any reasonabl3^-sized heaven ; but one looks in vain for 
the scenery of the Sierra Madre, the Barrancas of Bel- 
tran and Atenquique, Popocatapetl, Orizaba, the Valley 
of Mexico, and a thousand other glorious subjects for 
the landscape painter which this country affords. 

Of the new pictures, I saw one representing Virgil 
and Dante looking into hell, which is magnificent in 
the simplicity of its design and the savage force of its 
execution. Another — not quite finished — representing 
the Indian girl who first discovered the art of 
making pulque from the milk of the aloe plant, with her 
attendants, presenting the liquor and the plant itself to 
the King of Tula, is very beautiful and artistic in design, 
gives a perfect idea of the costumes and appearance of the 
ancient Aztecs, and is worth a square acre of fly-blown 
saints, musty martyrs, damp, old hermits in mouldy 



THE AKT aALLEEIES. 361 

cells, and the heroes and heroines of classic literature, 
in costumes suggestive of rheumatism, diptheria, pneu- 
monia, and early death. 

The department devoted to painting is the largest 
and most complete. One of the four grand salons is 
surrounded by portraits of the old masters and classic 
authors in fresco, executed quite recently by Ramon Sa- 
grado, an artist of Mexico, in excellent style. Among 
the art objects in all the public and private houses of 
Mexico, the portraits, statues, and busts of Humboldt 
invariably attest the regard for the memory of that 
great man, which prevails among all classes of society. 
The art galleries are now being renovated and j)ut in 
good order once more. When I visited them it was 
during vacation and I did not have the pleasure of see- 
ing the students at work. There are many empty 
frames in the salons, and we were told that the pictures 
which once filled them were borne away as S23oils by 
the French, who appear to have laid their vandal hands 
on everything rich, beautiful, and desirable, in Mexico. 

The department devoted to sculptui-e is also very ex- 
tensive, and contains many objects of rare excellence in 
art ; but the same lack of originality and nationality, 
and the same slavish devotion to European styles and 
models is visible everywhere. In the department de- 
voted specially to engraving on copper and steel 
crayon, and pencil drawing etc., there are many 
specimens of work of rare excellence, and a great num- 
ber of very fine and curious old English, French, Ger- 
man Spanish, and Italian engravings, such as cannot 
be found elsewhere on the continent. 

In the department of coins and medals, there is a col- 
lection embracing many thousand specimens. All the 



362 THE DEPARTMENT OF COINS AND MEDALS. 

gold, silver, and copper coins and medals, struck in 
Mexico since the Spanish conquest, with their dies, all 
in perfect preservation are there, and thousands of old 
lionian coins, with most of the coins and medals issued 
in Europe within the last five centuries. There are 
many specimens of the coins and medals issued by 
Maximilian. Among the former is one in silver, repre- 
senting the Virgin of Guadaloupe on one side, and 
Maximilian on the other, and another which represents 
Maximilian and Carlotta on the obverse, and the Vir- 
gin on the reverse. Maximilian was exceedingly vain 
of his repulsive face, and placed his likeness on every 
thing which could be made to bear it. With all its 
faults and short comings, the National school of Art 
and Design in Mexico is infinitely superior to anything 
similar on the continent ; and it will be long before we 
shall equal it in the United States. Some years since 
the students planned and erected a magnificent struc- 
ture for this School outside the San Cosme Gate in the 
direction of Chapultepec, near the Agricultural College, 
but during the siege by Porfirio Diaz, the Imperialists 
occupied it, and his cannon riddled it into a cullender, 
and it is now a com23lete ruin. I rode out there one 
day, and saw where the Californians under Col. Green 
crawled up in a ditch to within a hundred yards of the 
walls, and with their Henry rifl^es shot down the Im- 
perialist gunners at their posts, silencing their cannon, 
while the batteries of the Republicans sent their shot 
crashing through and through the structure, until it 
became a perfect wreck and untenable. 

The College of Mines or Mining College was one of 
the noblest educational institutions of Mexico in its de- 
sign, and it had been famous for half a century, before, 



THE COLLEGE OF MI]S"ES. 363 

even an attempt at founding sncli a sctool liad been 
made in the United States. Tlie building — cut granite, 
commenced in 1780 and completed about tlie beginning 
of tlie present century — is one of tlie largest, and most 
beautiful and substantial structures on the continent. 
It is three stories in height and built on the general 
plan in Mexico, with capacious patios or court-yards 
surrounded by broad corridors, everything being of 
stone, even down to the floors. From the flat stone 
roof the view of the city is magnificent. The college was 
intended to give young men a complete practical educa- 
tion in all that pertains to mines and mining, engineering, 
etc., etc. Provision was made for an astronomical ob- 
servatory, and the scientific apparatus was always of 
the latest, best, and most complete character. But the 
college has suffered sadly from war and violence, and it 
will take years of peace to fully restore it. In 1846 — 
7, the American trooi3s were quartered there. What 
damage they did I am of course unable to say, but it is 
certain that when the French evacuated Mexico, a vast 
number of the richest and most intrinsically valuable 
specimens in the collection of minerals and metals dis- 
appeared ; and a great portion of the most costly scien- 
tific apparatus had been wantonly destroyed, or ren- 
dered useless when the Kepublicans re-entered the city. 
At present there are but about thirty students in the 
college which could easily accommodate five hundred, 
or even one thousand. Efforts are being made to repair 
the damage, and place the college once more in a per- 
feet condition. 

The collection of minerals, all neatly arranged in 
glass cases, and carefully catalogued and labeled, is very 
large ; larger, I think, than any two in the United 



364 A EAEE COLLECTION OF MINERALS. 

States ; and many of the specimens are of rare beauty 
and of great interest to scientific men. I have seen coh 
lections made in California and Nevada, by private cit- 
izens, which contained more silver and gold, and had 
therefore more inti'insic value, but never any which ap- 
proached this in variety and general excellence. 

There is also a large but heterogeneous collection in 
Natural History, embracing some very rare and beaufci. 
fill specimens ; it is not, however, equal to that which 
was burned at the Smithsonian Institute at Washing- 
ton a few years since, and the collection of stuffed birds 
is not equal in artistic merit to that of the Audubon 
Club at Chicaga 



CHAPTER XTI. 

SOCIAL CONDITIOJSr AND CUSTOMS. 

f I ^HEKE is sometliing curious, and — ^to me at least — 
-*- painful, in tlie peculiar aspect of social life in Mex- 
ico. Thougli the Republic lias decreed the abolition of 
peonage throughout Mexico, and made all men equal, 
at least in theory, before the law, it is powerless to 
break down the barriers of caste and long continued 
custom, which makes the woman of Mexico, though the- 
orectically free, practically a slave. Religion has much 
to answer for in this ; and customs as old as a race are 
hard to eradicate, when religion stands behind them. 

The girls of the capital enjoy little of the liberty ac- 
corded to the young women of the United States, and 
really see but little of society until after marriage, if 
they are so fortunate, or unfortunate, as to ever marry 
at all. They are generally — I am speaking of the 
daughters of the wealthy or middle class families — ed- 
ucated in schools under the actual, though not nominal, 
control of the church — convents in which they were 
formerly educated having been abolished by law — and 
the system of education is not, as a rule, what we 
would consider liberal. They have a natural taste for 
music, play and sing with great ability, and often show re- 
markable talent for fine embroidery, wax work, drawing 
and painting. At home they are models of devotion to 
their parents, brothers, and sisters. Nowhere else on 



366 THE WOMEN OF MEXICO. 

earth, have I seen such affectionate treatment of parents 
by children and children, by parents, as ^n Mexico. As 
a rule, the influence and control of parents over their 
children never fully ceases save with death, and after 
death their memory is cherished, it seems to me, with 
more fondness than elsewhere in the world. 

I am proud of the daughters of my own loved land 
and here in this world of tropical beauty, still longed to 
walk once more among them, to hear the music of their 
voices, and mark the air of independent self-possession 
which freedom gives, the bold, free step and proud grace 
of carriage which characterizes the haughty daughters 
of our conquering race. But there is one thing in 
which the children of Mexico far excel those of the 
United States, and that is, filial devotion. " Honor 
thy Father and thy Mother that thy days may be long 
upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee," is a 
command which the daughters of Mexico obey with a 
whole-souled earnestness that is beautiful to witness. 
But freedom of action outside of the family circle, there 
is little of any for them. An unmarried lady cannot 
go out upon the street alone in broad daylight ; nay, 
she cannot even go out for a single block, in company of 
a gentleman, though he be the oldest friend of the fam- 
ily, married, and known to every man and woman on 
the street, according to the strict idea of social propri- 
ety in the capital. A married woman, or at least an old 
one, must always accompany her. 

I rode out one day to Tacubuya, with a married lady 
friend and a young unmarried lady. Returning, we 
came first to the residence of the married lady, and as 
the carriage stopped I sprang out to help her alight ; 
but she drew back with the remark : 



THEIE SOCIAL OOJSTDITIOIir AND CHAEACTER. 367 

" But L — is too tired to walk tome, and slie had bet. 
ter be carried tbere ! " 

" Oh yes, but it is only two blocks, and I can take Jier 
directly there in the carriage !" I remarked in my Cali- 
fornian simplicity. 

" That will never do in Mexico !" was her prompt re- 

piy- 

So I took them both to the young lady's house, left 
her there, and returned in the carriage with the married 
lady to her residence. That this incessant watching, 
and implied want of all confidence in the honesty and 
virtue of the young, is subversive of virtue, and tends 
to the defeat of its own object, seems to me quite clear ; 
nevertheless, it is the custom of the country, and must 
be complied with by all residents in the capital. In 
justice to the women of Mexico let me say, that in my 
opinion, the custom is as unnecessary, as it is oppress- 
ive and odious in our sight. 

None of the fields for independent effort and self- 
sustaining labor, which are open to the women of the 
United States, can be entered by the women of Mex- 
ico, and the future of a poor young widow, or an or- 
phan girl with no immediate relations to care for her, 
may well be considered a dark and doubtful one. The 
natural kind-heartedness of the people, induces the 
most distant relatives, in such cases, to come forward to 
the support of the widow and the fatherless ; but a life 
of unceasing dependence — often upon those least able 
to grant even that boon — is something only to be ac- 
cepted as an alternative to the one thing worse. 

Mexico is full of young women, naturally gifted, ac- 
complished, and fitted to become good, loving wives and 
mothers, who are unmarried and have no prospect of 



368 CUEIOUS PHASES OF SOCIAL LIFE. 

ever being souglit in marriage. Years on years of war 
and revolution, have forced into the army and killed 
off, or unfitted for marriage, a large portion of the 
young men of Mexico, and it is calculated that there are 
now in the capital, from four to seven unmarried and 
marriageable young ladies, to every young man of mar- 
riageable age who has any disposition to maiTy, or is in 
circumstances to justify his doing so. In the United 
States, a young couple may safely marry without a dol- 
lar to begin with, for new fields of enterprise are always 
open, and the poor, young man of to-day may be the 
richest of the rich a few years hence. But not so in 
Mexico. As a rule — there are honorable exceptions to it 
— the son of a Mexican family, once rich but now im- 
poverished, lives upon such resources, as are left to him ; 
rides his horse on the paseo at morning and evening, 
pays attention to his female friends in society, and 
while he is idly waiting for something to turn up to 
better his condition, lets so much of life slip by, that he 
at last finds himself an old bachelor and unfit to marry. 
In such a condition of society, a rich, young girl will 
of course have no lack of suitors, but the portionless 
girl, though never so good, beautiful, and accomplished, 
has but a poor chance indeed. These truths will fall 
unpleasantly upon some ears, and their utterance will 
be resented ; but they are truths, nevertheless, I am 
sorry to be compelled to say. 

The American, or other foreigner, in good social 
standing, can always marry well, so far as youth, beauty, 
and accomplishment go, in Mexico ; but the chance of 
his marrying into a wealthy family, and profiting by it, 
are not nearly so much in his favor as if he were native 
born. Knowing what I do of Mexico, I nlust say, that 



THE CHILDKEN OF MEXICO. 369 

if I were a young American, unmarried, and " fancy 
free," I would prefer tlie wider field of enterprise open 
to me in the United States, to the narrower field in . 
Mexico ; "but if I had been born in Mexico, I would 
marry among my own people, settle down, and labor 
with all my heart and, soul for the regeneration of my 
country. Mexico is a country well worthy the love and 
self-sacrifice of all her sons. 

The children in Mexico strike you with surprise and 
admiration. You see no idle, vicious, saucy boys run- 
ning around on the streets, annoying decent people by 
their vile language and rude behavior. All the boys 
yOu see have earnest faces, and walk with a sedate and 
grave demeanor like grown up men. I never saw a 
badly behaved child in Mexico. In the family circle 
the people are models for the world. The young al- 
ways treat the old with the deepest respect, and the af- 
fection displayed by parents for their children and chil- 
dren for their parents, is most admirable. The daughter 
of a good family in Mexico, though grown to woman- 
hood, will kiss the hand of her father when she meets 
him on the street, and always kisses her parents, 
brothers, and sisters at morning and evening, and many 
times during the day, with the greatest warmth, and 
earnestness. When the children marry, they usually 
remain under the parental roof as long as the parents 
live, and the parents control the house. 

The people of Mexico are, to-day, very poor. Among 
the very lowest classes there is less suffering than among 
the class who have once been rich, and are now labor- 
ing to keep up appearances after all actual prosperity 
has gone, and their available resources are exhausted. 
Beggars lounge around everywhere, and accost you 
24 



370 



THE BEGGARS OF MEXICO. 



upon every street and on every block, and you can only- 
escape their importunities while in your own house or ho- 
tel, by giving the strictest 
orders to your servants 
to exclude them. 
Many of these beggars are 
really needy, sick, maimed 
and helpless; but many 
others are graceless im- 
postors. There is no pub- 
lic provision for the help- 
less and deserving poor, 
and every year the bd^- 
gars increase in numbers. 
The increase of late years 
has been very great. Only 
when you say '"''pardone r 
will the street beggars bow 
and leave you. The num- 
wretches you see on the 
streets of Mexico is almost incredible. 

The absence of an^^hing like the bustle and noise of 
a northern city, is noticed at once by a stranger in 
Mexico. "Wholesale trade there is next to none at all, 
and the retail stores are small, and for the most part 
poorly patronized. You see no drays loaded with goods 
for the interior, going through the streets as with us, 
and the cry of the auctioneer is unheard. Mexico is in 
no sense a commercial or manufacturing city ; its pro- 
ductive industries hardly equaling those of a town of a 
tenth part of its population in the New England 
States. You hear the voice of the " church going bell," 
from morning to night, but listen in vain for the note 




" TENGO NADA SENOK !" 



bers of horribly maimed 



THE TRADE OF THE CITY. 



371 



of the steam-wliistle calling operatives to their work, 
or the hum of busy factories, and the clanking of the 
laboring engine. 
Church towers a t - 
tract the eye on all 
sides, but you look 
in vain for the factory 
chimney. 

[ Hawkers of all 
kinds of goods, re- 
hosas, and serapes y 
bridles, saddlery, 
spurs, boots and 
shoes, jewelry, and in 
fact nearly every- 
thing usually kept in 
a country variety 
store, swarm about 
the plaza, and under 
the portals, on all 

the principal streets. Around the market, a large por- 
tion of the country produce and garden vegetables are 
sold by the men and women who bring it in upon their 
backs, in great crates or hampers. The chicken, orange, 
vegetable, and earthenware venders will be readily 
recognized by any visitor to Mexico. The protuber- 
ance of the eyes of all these people, caused by carry- 
ing such enormous back-loads from infancy, is their 
most marked feature. 

The citizens of the capital are supplied with water, in 
a great measure, by licensed water carriers, who sell the 
contents of a three pail jar borne on their backs, and a 
smaller one carried in front, all for three cents, deliver- 




EARTUENWARE SELLER. 



372 



THE CLIMATE. 



ing it in the house. The water carrier generally fin- 
ishes his work by noon, and by 2 p. m. is Ixlind, but qui- 
etly drunk on pulque. 



A curious but ef- 
fective illustration of 
the character of the 
climate of Mexico, is 
found in the fact that 
comments on the 
weather — the staple 
subject of conversa- 
tion with us — are sel- 
dom heard, and do not 
enter into or form a 
part of the regular 
topics of the day. I 
noticed many times 
during our stay in 
the capital, that when 
Mr. Seward would 




WATER CjUIEIER. 



remark, " It is a delightful day !" or pass some other 
comment on the weather, the Mexicans present would 
respond politely in the affirmative, but with an air 
which plainly indicated that they were in doubt as to 
what was meant by the remark. One day, after a glo- 
rious ride out to Tacubuya and Chapultepec, in which I 
had most heartily enjoyed the pm*e air and warm, soft 
sunshine, I said to one of the younger daughters of 
the President, a frank-hearted, outspoken, and most ami- 
able young lady, " This is a beautiful day ! " She 
looked at me a moment with the old look of puzzled 
doubt on her face, and said, " I do not understand you ! " 
I repeated the remark, and she then replied : " 8i Senor 



AN EASTEEN SUPEESTITIOIST. 



373 



Oomo noV (Yes sir; wliy not?") and tlien went on 
to say tliat all tlie days were beautiful as a general 
thing ; only now and tlien a norther making it otherwise. 
The fact is, that the weather is so generally beautiful, 
and the exceptions so rare, that the words we use so 
often every week in our changeable climate, have no ap- 
preciable meaning to the dwellers in this favored clime. 

The belief in the "evil eye," a superstition of purely 
Eastern origin, is quite common among the lower 
classes of the Mexican people. Many times I have 
seen a poor Mexican mother standing by the roadside, 
with her young in- 
fant in her arms, and 
on observing one of 
our party looking to- 
wards her, draw the 
end of her rebosa 
quickly over the face 
of the child, lest its 
fortunes should be 
blighted and its soul 
impe riled by the 
glance of the stran. 
ger. The supe r s t i - 
tion is confined solely 
to the lower class of 
the people, but it 
manifests itself ex- 
actly as it does in 
Arabia and the Barbary States to this day, and evi- 
dently came to America with the Spaniards. 

It is customary in all Spanish American countries to 
offer a guest everything which he may require for his 




OKx^NGE SELLER. 



374 



HOSPITABLE TREATMENT OF GUESTS. 



comfort and convenience, and literally, to put the entire 
house, and every thing in it, at his disposal for the time 
being. This practice grovfs out of a genuine feeling of 
liberality, and hospitality, but the language used is such 
as to' be quite readily misunderstood l^y a stranger who 
measui'es expressions by the cold matter-of-fact rule in 
use in colder countries, and attaches more weight to a 
mere formality than it is justly entitled to. When you 
enter the house of a fiiend, or even a pei-son to whom 
you have a letter of introduction, in Spanish Ameri- 
ca, he at once tells you, that you are " in your own 

house," and that you 
are the master and he 
your guest, or some- 
thing to that effect. 
He really expects you 
to make yourself at 
home in the broadest 
sense of the term, but 
on the other hand, 
pays you the compli- 
ment of supposing 
that you have, at least, 
an ordinary amount 
of common sense, and 
will know enough of 
what constitutes the 
rules and customs of 
society, not to abuse 
the offer, and outstay your welcome. 

If you particularly admire any picture, or article 
of jewelry or furniture, he will immediately tell 
you that it is at youi' disposal, and you are quite wel- 




POULTRY BELLER. 



COURTESY MISCONSTRUED. 



375 



come to carry it away witli you. He does not, in all 
probability, expect you to accept tlie offer ; but if you 
are ignorant or ill-bred enougli to do so, lie will conceal 
Ms cliao-rin, if be feels any, and permit you to carry 
away anything you fancy, however inconvenient it may 
be for bim to part witb it. 

Sometimes ludicrous, and even painful results follow 
tbis misapprebcAsion 
of tbe true value of 
courteous expressions 
made by a bost or 
bostess to a guest. I 
remember a case of an 
Englisb lady wbo was 
on a visit to Mexico, 
and on making tbe 
acquaintance of a 
family of wealtb and 
position, was one day 
offered a beautiful 
and valuable set of 
diamonds and emer- 
alds, wbicb bad been 
in tbe family for gen- 
erations. Sbe was 
told, of course, tbat sbe was welcome to take tbem 
away witb ber, and in tbe innocence of ber beart did so. 

Tbe result was, tbat mutual friends learning tbe true 
state of tbe case, were compelled to go to ber and ex- 
plain bow matters stood, mucb to ber mortification. 
Sbe at once returned tbe jewels witb an explanation tbat 
tbey bad proved, on trial, not to suit ber complexion 
and style of dress, and offering in return for tbe cour- 




VEGETABLE SELLER. 



376 UNCLE FEEDDY, ALIAS WASHINGTON THE SECOND. 

tesy shown Jier, to send a set of lier own jewelry to tlie 
house, as a present to one of the daughters of the 
family. Of course her offer was declined, with many 
thanks, and renewed offers of service from the other 
side. Good common sense in this case, made up for the 
lack of familiarity with the social customs of the coun- 
try, but I have known some of my own countrymen 
and countrywomen who were less fortunate. 

For years, the residents of San Francisco were famil- 
iar with the face and form of an eccentric, and probably 
mildly insane old individual, who delighted in the sob- 
riquet of Uncle Freddy, alias Washington the Second. 
What his real name was I never knew, but he was an 
Englishman by birth, I believe, and while he imagined, 
or affected to imagine himself the very counterpart of 
Washington, he really did resemble the portraits of 
Benjamin Franklin, in a remarkable degree. 

Uncle Freddy could be seen parading Montgomery 
street any fine day, dressed in a full buckskin suit and 
cocked hat, regular " old Continental " style, or black 
velvet, similarly cut, and with knee-breeches, white stock- 
ings, and silver buckled shoes. Sometimes he carried a 
gorgeous banner, the legends on which commemorated 
his deeds of valor and humanity, and his claims upon 
the public crib as a benefactor of our country and race. 
Any contribution in acknowledgment of his eminent 
services was welcome, and the larger the donation the 
more profuse were his apologies and protestations of 
gratitude. 

The sun of fortune seemed to shine lovingly upon 
Uncle Freddy, but he had a weakness like all other 
great men, and in an evil moment it proved his ruin. 
He imagined himself a woman-killer, and would indulge 



NORTON THE FIKST. 377 

in tlie most ludicrous demonstrations of politeness to- 
wards every body on the street whose attention was 
drawn to Ms slightly obese figure, set off by the curi- 
ously antiquated costume which he affected. 

San Francisco has still another speciality, in the shape 
of " N'orton I., By the Grace of God and the Will of 
the people. Emperor of the United States, Protector of 
Mexico, and Sovereign Lord of the Guano Islands," as 
he styles himself in all his proclamations. You may 
see him to-day, di'essed in a soiled and greasy uniform, 
cocked hat and feather, carrying a heavy cavalry sword 
and a huge knotty cane \ip and down Montgomery 
street, or peering curiously into the shop windows, ex- 
amining every work of art, with a critical and appre- 
ciative eye. 

The cares of state weigh heavily upon Norton the 
First, and in his advanced age he is becoming subject to 
certain slight ebulitions of T^a-ath, on the slightest provo- 
cation. He daily sends off communications to the dif- 
ferent crowned heads of Europe and Asia, commanding 
them to do this thing or that thing, immediately. His 
telegraphic dispatches would — and generally do — fill 
an ordinary waste-basket every week in the year, and 
the number of proclamations Avhich he sends to the dif 
ferent newspaper offices, with command to publish at 
once, on penalty of instant death and confiscation of 
property, is beyond computation. He was a wealthy 
speculator in breadstuffs, in the early days of San Fran- 
cisco, and probably receives more or less assistance from 
his old and more fortunate acquaintances, and j)ossibly 
also, from a secret order of which he was once a mem- 
ber ; but the fall secret of his living and maintaining 
his royal state, is a mystery to most people. 



378 WASHINGTON AND THE CHINESE PRINCESS. 

Wlien Maximilian arrived in Mexico, be received 
communication after communication from the Emperor 
Norton I., signed by His Majesty in person, and adorned 
with seals of the size of a small cheese, giving him 
much good advice, and offering many suggestions as to 
the method of conducting the affairs of the new Em- 
pire, which it was evidently supj)osed would receive 
due consideration, as coming from an old hand and suc- 
cessful operator in the business of Imperialism. These 
documents received much attention at first, and for a 
long time bothered the head of the son of the House 
of Hapsburg-Lorraine, and all his ministers, exceed- 
ingly. 

One day, Uncle Freddy mentioned to a friend, in con. 
fidence, that he had written to Queen Victoria on some 
subject, and the treacherous friend at once related the 
cii'cumstance to the Emperor, adding that he — Uncle 
Freddy — had denounced the Emperor as a humbug and 
a swindle. From that moment the Emperor Norton 
First, and Washington the Second, were mortal enemies, 
and every day added friel to the flame of their animosity. 
Washington opened a curiosity shop on Clay street, 
and the Emperor went up there and smashed it, and all 
its contents, into a cocked-hat. Washington apjjealed 
to the police, and was told, that the Emperor being the 
source of all power, no writ would hold against him- 
Then Washington met a Chinese woman of the better 
class on the street, gorgeously arrayed, and as she 
looked at him with curiosity, bowed to her. This inci- 
dent was reported to the Emperor, with the addition 
that the young female Mongolion was a Chinese princess 
sent over to America to be married to His Majesty, in 
order to bring about an alliance offensive and defensive 



AN EXIIJE FROM CALIFORNIA. 379 

between the two Enij)ires, and tliat Uncle Freddy was 
endeavoring to get Iter prejudiced against royalty, and 
in favor of himself. 

This last straw broke the Imperial Camel's back, and 
Norton the First, at once issued a peremptory order to 
General McDowell, for the arrest and execution of Uncle 
Freddy, adding, that if the order was disregarded as 
others had been, he would go out, sword in hand, and 
put down the rebellion summarily. The wags who had 
been carrying on the joke, seeing that matters had come 
to a dangerous pass, and bloodshed was not unlikely to 
follow, consulted together, and determined to induce 
Uncle Freddy to emigrate, at once, to New York. On 
the way down the coast, the steamer on which Uncle 
Freddy was a passenger, touched at Acapulco, and the 
venerable representative of the Father of His Country, 
asked Senor Mancillas, now of the Mexican Congress, 
who was also a j)assenger, to introduce him to General 
Juan Alvarez, then in command of the port of Aca- 
pulco, and Governor of the State of Guerrero. Mancillas 
thoughtlessly complied, and the old fellow at once 
made himself extremely familiar with the authorities 
on shore. 

When the time for the steamer to depart arrived, 
Mancillas went to pay his respects and bid good-bye to 
General Alvarez, and was not a little surprised to find 
Uncle Freddy installed in the house in all the pomp of 
the Father of His Country, indeed, and a guest of na- 
tional importance. He had informed the gallant old 
Republican General, that he had rendered distinguished 
service to Mexico during the war of 1846-7, which he 
had opposed with all his might, and final success. The 
General of course told him that he was welcome to the 



380 now UNCLE fkeddy came to grief. 

country, and that the house and eveiything in the house 
was his own. If he could make up his micd to spend the 
remainder of his days in so poor a country as Mexico, and 
so poor a city as Acapulco, he would feel only too happy, 
to have him for a guest for the rest of his life. 

Uncle Freddy took a look at the premises, rather 
liked the way everything was arranged and proceeded 
to dine sumptuously. When Seiior Mancillas, at his 
last caE, reminded him that the steamer's gun had been 
fired, and it was time to go off in the boat, he stretched 
his legs comfortably in the cool verandah, and informed 
him that he had determined to accept the hospitable 
invitation which had been extended to him, make that 
his home, and consider himself the guest of General 
Alvarez and the Mexican Republic, for the remainder 
of his days. Mancillas argued and expostulated in 
vain ; Uncle Freddy had struck too good a thing, and 
he meant to enjoy it. 

At last, in a fit of very desperation, Mancillas sent a 
party to invite the healthy old shade of the father of 
his country outside the door, and then seize him, and 
hurry him down to the boat and off to the steamer by 
main strength. 

When General Alvarez heard of the " outrage " he 
was in a great passion, and could only be aj)peased by 
hearing the whole story, and learning that the kidnap- 
ing had been done by the order of Seiior Mancillas, 
in order to relieve him — the General — of the presence 
of a lunatic, whom he had thoughtlessly introduced 
into the house, and who proposed to take the General 
at his word, and stay there for life. 

Uncle Freddy was borne away from the shores of 
Mexico sorely against his mil, and when last seen, on 



DENUJSrCIATIOlSr OF MEXICAN'S BY FOREIGlSrERS. 381 

Broadway, New York, was still bitterly bewailing tlie 
lost opportunity, like tlie man who being asked to " ex- 
cuse " a lady to wkom lie liad popped tke question, ex- 
cused her, and as he informed his friends, regretted hav- 
ing done so, to the end of his existence. 

Many strangers are inclined to look upon the pro- 
fuse offers of hospitality on the part of the Spanish 
American people, as utterly insincere, and made with 
an expectation in advance that they would never be 
accepted. This view of the case is, however, far too 
broad and sweeping. As a rule, the people of Mex- 
ico are truly hospitable in the broadest acceptation 
of the term, and strangers are welcomed and enter- 
tained with j^leasure ; but it is, of course, expected that 
they will use reason, and show some sense of delicacy ; 
and a mere arbitrary translation of the expressions used 
would be unjust, as putting language into the mouth of 
the host or hostess which they never intended to use. 

It is quite the fashion for foreigners of all classes, to 
denounce the Mexicans as a set of thieves and scoun- 
drels, false, treacherous, cowardly, unreliable, and with- 
out a single redeeming characteristic. I will not claim for 
the Mexicans that they are a nation of angels and saints ; 
they have theii' virtues and their faults like all other 
nations. But that they are more dishonest, or more 
given to disgraceful peculation and swindling than 
many of the foreigners with whom they have had to 
deal, I cannot believe. There are some most notable 
exceptions among the foreign-born residents of Mexico, 
but it is nevertheless the fact, that far too many of them 
bore but an indifferent character in their own country, 
came to Mexico to get rich " by hook or by crook," and 
have no scruples worth mentioning as to how they make 



382 A SHAEP BUSINESS TEANSACTION. 

the money so that they make it and get away with it. 
I have heard a thousand stories illustrative of the prac- 
tices of foreigners of this class in Mexico ; a couple vrill 
be sufficient to convey a ftiir idea of the conduct of those 
who are accustomed to denounce the Mexicans, in the 
most unmeasured terms, for alleged dishonesty and un- 
reliability. 

During the French intervention, a large European 
importing house, doing business in Western Mexico, 
landed a large invoice of goods at Manzanillo, which 
port was then in possession of the Repuljlicans, The 
city to which they desired to send the goods for sale, was 
in the possession of the Imperialists, and they must deal 
with both parties in order to have them passed through 
the lines of the opposing forces. They accordingly pro- 
posed to the Republican authorities to pay the duties, 
contingently. As they represented that the Imperial- 
ists would in all probability let the goods go through, 
but there was no certainty of their doing so, they pro- 
' posed to give the Republic drafts on themselves, paya- 
ble on the receipt of the acknowledgment that they had 
been passed. The Rej)ublicans being sorely in want of 
funds consented, and gave receipts to be exhibited to 
the Imperialists as evidence that the goods had already 
paid duty. 

The goods went through all right, and were disposed 
of at swinging profits within the Imperialist lines, the 
Imperialist collector being convinced that a heavy duty 
had already been paid, and that it would be wrong to 
exact a second under the circumstances. Then, when 
the drafts were presented for payment, the drawers re- 
plied : " Oh ! but you are not representative of the 
Government of Mexico ! The Governments of Europe 



ANOTHER TRANSACTION. 383 

have acknowledged tlie Empire as tlie only legitimate 
Government in Mexico, and it will be necessary for you 
to liave these drafts presented by the imperial authori- 
ties ; we cannot recognize them in any other hands." 
The Mexican authorities were fairly outwitted, and both 
parties swindled out of the entire duties. 

A Mend of the house which perpetrated this neat 
little piece of thieving — for it is nothing less — told the 
story to me as an illustration of the shrewdness and 
business ability of the head of the concern, and really 
seemed to think it a very creditable transaction on the 
part of the importers, who pocketed a small fortune by 
the operation. 

Another transaction, the parties to which were men 
occupying prominent positions in politics, took place at 
the City of Mexico. A revolutionary party was driven 
out of the capital by the legitimate authorities. As they 
— the revolutionists — were hurrying away, a gentleman 
of wealth, who was complicated and found it necessary 
or desirable to leave with them, in order to save his mag- 
nificent private residence from occupation and confisca- 
tion by the Government, made a lease of it at a nom- 
inal rent to the French minister, who immediately took 
possession. The owner soon made his peace with the 
Government, and according to the previous arrangement 
returned and demanded the restoration of his property. 
He was put off and refused on one pretext or another, 
until a new French minister came out to replace the 
first, and the property was then turned over to him, 
against the indignant and emphatic protest of the hap- 
less owner. The new minister held the property until 
turned out of it by a decision of the last court of ap- 
peal, and then, when the owner was restored to the pos- 



384 DEVOTION OF TUE MEXICAN WOMEN. 

session, lie found tliat every article of furniture, all the 
ricli and costly plate, etc., etc., was gone, and that in 
fact, only the four walls of the once magnificently fur- 
nished house remained. The j^late was taken to the 
United States, and a part of it, at least, was sold at 
auction at Washington, and is now in the possession of 
a Mend of mine who ]3urchased it in good faith, little 
dreaming that men so high in office and authority could 
be guilty of having stolen it outright. 

I suppress the names and dates for obvious reasons, in 
both cases, but the facts, especially in regard to the 
last transaction, are so well known in Mexico that any 
person can verify them who cares to do so. Such 
transactions are bad enough in all conscience, but they 
are not worthy of being mentioned in connection with 
such frauds as the " Jecker Claim," which Vas backed 
up— cooked up I ought to say perhaps — by the minis- 
ter of a first-class European power, and in the hands of 
a cunning imperial schemer, served as one of the prin- 
cipal pretexts for the invasion of Mexico, and the at- 
tempt to establish a hostile Empire on ohr borders. 

I ought to say on behalf of the women of Mexico, 
that all foreigners, even those who denounce the men 
in the most unjust and unmeasured terms, unite in prais- 
ing their constancy, faithfulness and devotion. They 
are not only as wives and mothers devoted to their hus- 
bands and children, but they are ever ready to assist in 
every possible manner, the afflicted. The suffering of 
every nationality, even those who have come among 
them as enemies, always find them ready to sympa- 
thize, aid, and comfort to the utmost of their ability. 
From highest to lowest this is the rule. You have only 
to tell a Mexican woman that your life is in danger and 



THEIR SYMPATHY FOE THE UNFORTUNATE. 385 

that you tlirow yourself upon lier protection, and you 
may be sure tliat slie will risk Iter own life, honor, every- 
thing in fact, to protect you. 

In this fact is found the ready explanation of the es- 
cape of so many revolutionists after their defeat by the 
Government. The most detested wretch on the earth 
can appeal to the women of Mexico for food and shelter, 
and it will be given him. To refuse either, would be 
in the eyes of a Mexican woman, an unpardonable sin 
against God and humanity, and thus it is that men like 
Marguez, who have committed murders and other crimes 
without number, almost invariably escape justice, and 
succeed in reaching a foreign shore. A prisoner sen- 
tenced for a long term, applied to me to say a good word 
for him to the authorities, and a Mexican lady, who ac- 
companied me at the moment, urged me to comply. 

" But he is a' rascal and an enemy of your family ! " I 
said. 

" Oh Senor, that is true, but he is sick and in prison, 
pohrecito ! " was the only reply. 

She is a better Christian than I. 

The Mexican servants in the City of Mexico are a 
peculiar class. They earn but a fraction of what we in 
the United States would call a salary — say from three 
to fifteen dollars per month, live or six dollars being a 
fair average. They often remain several years in a fam- 
ily, and many of them, in fact, are born, raised, and die 
in the same house, and in the family of their first mas- 
ter. With foreigners, they are generally a little less 
reliable than when serving native masters, probably, 
because they are less closely watched, and their employ- 
ers, being less familiar with their habits and peculiari- 
ties, are less able to protect themselves from their ec- 
25 



386 HOW MR. FITCH WAS SWINDLED. 

centricities. They will generally leave a very valuable 
ai-ticle or large suiu of money untouched, but small ar. 
tides of finery and small coins are very likely to get 
lost, if left around loose in their reach. 

With us, it is the custom to pay the largest salaries 
to those of our employes who have the responsibility 
of handling the most money, but a lady in Mexico told 
me with charming naivette, that the rule was just the 
contrary there, as those who handled the most money 
had the least need of a salary. It is so common a thing 
for the cook or purveyor for a family to make a small 
percentage off the purchases, that it is looked upon as 
quite a matter of course, and nothing is thought of it. 

One day Mr. Fitch, in j^assing along the street in 
Mexico, saw a pair of patent-leather gaiters, which be- 
ing highly ornamented, pleased his fancy, and he forth- 
with ordered a pair built to fit him. Wtlen the servant 
brought them home, I asked him how much they cost. 
He answered promptly : 

" Five dollars and a half ! " 

I said — as I could with imjDunity, since Mr. Fitch 
did not understand Spanish : 

" You ought to add fifty cents for yourself !" 

" I have done so, Seiior !" said the fellow promptly, 
smiling knowingly, as if he understood the situation at 
once. 

But you should have added a dollar instead of fifty 
cents ; the padre is delighted with the boots and would 
stand it ! " 

The fellow, without a moment's hesitation, turned to 
Mr. Fitch and told him the bill was six dollars. The 
money was paid, and as he received it and turned to go, 
he dropped five dollars into his pantaloons pocket, and 



HO]SrORINa THE UNIFORM. 387 

transferred one-lialf-dollar of the "balance to his jacket 
pocket, and witli tlie most amiable and knowing air 
imaginable, keld the other fifty cent piece out in his 
open hand for me to take, as lie passed me in the door- 
way. He meant to do business on the square, and 
come to a fair divide. From what I had said, lie took 
me for the financial man of the party, and supposed, of 
course, that I was — pardon the Californianism — "on 
the make " as well as himself. My natural and uncon- 
querable modesty, coupled with the fact that I wore a 
uniform which I felt bound to honor while in a foreign 
land, induced me to refuse the money, and whisper to 
him to keep it as a present. He kept it ! 

The servants furnished to Mr. Seward's party by the 
Mexican Government during our stay in Mexico, certain- 
ly would compare favorably with any I have ever seen , 
being attentive and efficient, and at least, as honest as 
they will average anywhere. From one side of the conti- 
nent to the other, our clothing and other articles of bag- 
gage were at their mercy, and we lost nothing what- 
ever. In fact, we found it impossible to lose some 
things which we would gladly have left behind us. 

At one point on our journey, some inconsiderate 
friend presented Mr. Seward with a huge petrifaction 
from some stone quarry. This proved a perfect fossil 
elephant, and after the shins of the entire party had 
suffered fearfully, it was left behind us — by accident of 
course — at Puebla. The next day we were congratu- 
lating ourselves on the loss, when Pedro, one of the 
servants who had accompanied us across the continent, 
came smiling up to the coach door, with the monstros- 
ity carefully done up in a rag — ^he had carried it this 
way the entire distance, and was proudly conscious of 



388 ME. sewaed's fossil elephant. 

having, in so doing, deserved well 'of his country and 
mankind in general. He was duly thanked, of course, 
and we kicked it about fi'om one side of the coach to 
the other, with many a secret blessing on the donor and 
the faithful servant who had returned it. 

At Palmar, I placed it under my bed, and congratu- 
lated myself on having seen the last of it, as the coach 
rolled away next morning. Vain delusion ! At Ori- 
zaba, next day, I went into the dilligence office to trans- 
act some business, when the agent said to me : 

" Senor, you lost something at Palmar, but give your- 
self no uneasiness ; it will be down here to night by 
the dilligence. They are honest people and would not 
take anything from you." 

" Was it money that they found ? " I asked, affecting 
a carelessness I Avas far from feeling. 

" O no, Senor : a big rock ; very curious indeed, and 
doubtless very valuable." 

My heart was too full for words, and I could only 
bow my thanks and shake his hand in silence. 

On leaving Orizaba I tried it on and failed more ig- 
nobly, for it was j)icked up and placed upon my hat- 
box, which it smashed down at once ; and so in spite of 
every effort I could make, it clung to me like the night- 
mare, and turned up in due time at Vera Cruz. 

But in that ancient city I was master of the situa- 
tion. I occupied a room at a hotel, pending the arrival 
of Mr. Seward from Orizaba, — having gone down to the 
coast in advance of the remainder of the party from 
that point — and had no one to Avatch my actions, Avith 
a vieAV of doing me a service on every occasion in spite 
of myself I took it one night, carefully wrapped up 
in paper, and carrying it down to the city front , climbed 



WHAT BECAME OF IT. 389 

upon some railroad material and hurled it over tlie wall 
into the shallow water outside. 

I got back to the hotel unobserved, but going down 
to the mole next day, I observed a party of fishermen 
and idlers gathered about something which they had 
picked up and brought there in a boat ; it was that ac- 
cursed petrifaction again. I bought it from the happy 
finder for twenty-five cents, and carried it to where some 
men were overhauling a lot of goods in boxes. '- From 
them I borrowed a hatchet, and pretending to be deeply 
curious as to what was inside, proceeded with the wise 
look of a regular " rock-sharp," to smash it into a thou- 
sand pieces. I found no gold inside it, and in well sim- 
ulated disappointment gathered up the pieces, and 
threw them, one after another, as far as I could send 
them, out into the deep water, taking good care that no 
two pieces, of any size, fell near together. I have not 
seen any of it since, thank Heaven ! 

The men servants are generally better posted than 
the female servants in the matter of foreigners. One 
female servant in the family of a friend who was going 
to the United States on a visit, was horrified at the 
thought of the fate that awaited her beloved mistress. 

" Oh Senora for the love of God and the holy saints, 
don't go among those Yankees ! They will eat you • 
they will certainly eat you ! " was her constant cry when 
she saw the final preparations for departure being made. 
They left her in tears and despair, fully convinced that 
her dear mistress would be devoured as soon as she put 
her foot on American soil. She told her mistress that 
when the army of Gen. Scott entered Mexico, she fled 
to the mountains with her husband, and staid there un- 
til they left the country. 



390 POLITENESS OF THE SERVANTS. 

They never talk back, after the manner of the Italian 
servants in America, but reply to every epithet with a 
fresh offer of service. 

" You d — d drunken loafer ! " thundered a master to 
his servant who was endeavoring to Ijack an unusually 
heavy load of pulque. 

"Si Sen or, at your service!" was the polite and 
prompt reply, as the mozo lifted his hat and bowed like 
an India rubber man. 

It takes about four servants in Mexico, to do the 
work of one in the United States, and as you board 
them, the cost of labor for a family is considerable, after 
all. If you pay a servant his or her wages in advance, 
or day by day, the chances are, that you can keep them 
almost any length of time ; but let them get a few dol- 
lars due them, and they are almost certain to come to 
yoTi, and say : 

" Please Senor or Seiiora, I want to have my wages 
settled up on Saturday, as I am going to the village 
where my family reside, to rest a few weeks. When I 
have had a good rest I will come back if you want 
me !" 

The idea of allowing money to accumulate on their 
hands is exceedingly against their fancy, and they make 
it a point to get rid of it as soon as they lay their hands 
upon it. I thought before this trip, that servants in the 
United States were the worst in the world, but heard 
just as much complaint about them in Mexico as in 
California. In all fairness I must say, that I think the 
Mexican servant system better, or at least, less trouble- 
some than ours. 

The census takers in the United States sometimes 
complain of the annoyances and indignities which they 



CENSUS TAKTTTg IN" JIEXICO. 391 

are made to suffer ; but they have a glorious time com- 
pared with their fellow-laborers in Mexico. It is said 
that the actual population of the country can only be 
approximated, it being impossible to get at the number 
of able-bodied men in any given town. The intelligent 
and educated families will answer at all times, correctly ; 
but among the lower classes from which the army is 
mainly recruited, it is next to impossible to get correct 
returns. The appearance of a man with a book, or roll 
of paper and pencil, is the signal for all the men capa- 
ble of doing military duty to skedaddle in double-quick 
time, and the women, fearing that it is a preliminary ar- 
rangement for a conscription, persistently declare that 
there is not an able-bodied man on the premises. 



CHAPTER XTII. 

THE AKMY, PRESS, AND POLITICAL SITUATION. 

npHE Mexican army is to-day, stronger in actual 
numbers tlian that of the United States, and in 
spite of the prevailing stringency in the treasury, tol- 
erably well paid, and in a good state of discipline and 
efficiency. The army absorbs half the annual revenue 
of the Republic, but as it must not only garrison the 
towns and maintain peace, but do guard duty, patrol 
the road, ^ght j)ronuncia4os and handidos, escort travel- 
ers, and specie and imported goods trains, and do a va- 
riety of other work not often required of an army in 
other countries, it would seem impossible, in the pres- 
ent condition of the country, to reduce its numbers. I 
doubt if it can be done safely for years to come. 

The men are generally stout, compact, muscular, and 
active — though less in stature than American soldiers — 
very enduring, and capable of marching rapidly and on 
the smallest amount of food. They are, nearly all, of 
the dark, bronze hue, which indicates pure, or nearly 
pure Indian blood, but the commissioned officers are 
usually of lighter complexion. They are well drilled, 
mostly armed with American muskets or breech-load- 
ers, and march with great precision. There are three 
battalions constantly on duty at and around the 
Palacio Nacional, and others are in various parts 
of the city. 



THE INVALID CORPS. 393 

One of these is the "Invalid Corps," composed of 
maimed veterans who are still able to do guard duty. 
This corps was founded by Maximilian, and on the cap- 
ture of the city by General Diaz, after the fall of Quer- 
etero, they fought more savagely than any others, 
against their old comrades, the republicans. Neverthe- 
less, the corps was not disbanded by Juarez, and in 
case of the attempt being made to carry the city by 
pronunciados^ or foreign invaders, they would probably 
fight as stoutly on the side of the Kepublic, as they 
then did against it. 

The students in the Military College — who are soon 
to return to their old quarters at Chapultepec — are 
nearly all, mere boys ; but they are determined repub- 
licans, and during the French invasion, more than once, 
fought with the most desperate valor against the in- 
vaders. 

One or more of the battalions stationed at the Pal- 
ace, marched past our house on fall dress parade every 
morning, and we could hear every footfall at exactly 
the same time, so that it seemed like the movement of 
a great machine. They have each a splendid band, and 
I noticed that they played something in compliment to 
Mr. Seward, nearly every time. One day they came 
down Alfaro street, playing 

"Tramp, tramp, tramp, the boyB are marching !" 

in as good style as I have ever heard it played in the 
United States, and I suppose had we stayed longer, we 
might have heard the 

" Battle cry of freedom !" 

I saw only infantry and cavalry corps, but was told 



394 THE PKESS OF MEXICO. 

that they liad artillery as well. The lance is no longer 
used, and the cavalry, for desultory warfare at least ap- 
pears to be fully equal to our own. 

The press of Mexico is yet in its infancy, and falls far 
short of holding its proper position in the community. 
Though nominally free, it is hampered in many ways. 
The name of the " responsible editor " and proprietor 
must be given in every edition. The Government of 
the Republic and the different State governments 
have subsidized organs, which publish the laws, 
speak authoritatively, and reflect the views only of 
the party, at the moment, in power. This discourages 
enterprise, and intensifies and embitters party feeling ; 
the few opposition papers being driven to pursue the 
most violent course, as the only means of living at all. 
Such a thing as a newspaper sustained wholly, or to 
any considerable extent, by its advertising patronage is 
unknown. The entire circulation of all the daily and 
weekly papers in the Republic combined, is not equal 
to that of a single one of the second class dailies of 
New York. 

In the City of Mexico there is something like prog- 
ress displayed by the press, but it is very little, after all. 
The dailies are specially deficient in the matter of local 
news; an event of startling importance — as it would 
be regarded in the United States — occurring within two 
blocks of the office, may find its way into a paper 
within a week, or it may never be alluded to. The po- 
litical editorials are often very bitter and abusive, but 
generally well- written and forcible, and the literary de- 
partment is usually good. Each paper publishes a se- 
rial novel in a division at the bottom, so arranged that 
it can be cut off and bound in pages into a volume com- 



LITEEAEY AND MUSICAL ATTAIlSTMEJSfTS. 395 

plete, when the story is finished. The subscribers al- 
ways cut these off the bottom of the paper, and save 
them for this purpose. 

In the matter of foreign news, the press of Mexico is 
usually, very greatly behind the rest of the world, and a 
New York daily will spend — and by reason of its liberal 
patronage, is well able to spend — more in one day for 
telegraphic matter, than a Mexican daily will devote to 
the same purpose in a year. 

There are many finely educated, literary men — men 
of extensive reading and rare accomplishment — in Mex- 
ico ; and many books have been published at the capi- 
tal, which would compare favorably with those from any 
country, on the same subject. Poetry is especially pop- 
ular, and many volumes of purely native composition 
are to be found. The people of Mexico excel in music, 
and many of their native airs are of a high order of 
merit. "The Hymn of Zoragasa," in celebration of 
the victory of the Mexicans over the French at Puebla, 
on the " OItigo de MayoJ'' are equal to anything ever pro- 
duced in the United States. Many of their love songs 
and patriotic ballads are very beautiful. 

Probably the most complete and extensive printing 
establishment in Mexico is that of the " Siglo Diez y 
Nueve^'' owned by Cumplido & Son. The elder Cum- 
plido was born in Guadalajara in 1811. At fifteen 
years of age he had read enough of the history of the 
United States to desire to see that country, and leav- 
ing home, he walked all the way to Mexico. There 
he worked until he obtained sufficient means to carry 
him to the United States. After mastering the print- 
ing trade in New York, he started back with a com- 
plete printing and engraving establishment. He ar- 



396 AN ENTERPRISING AND PERSEVERING PRINTER. 

rived off Vera Cruz to find tlie port blockaded by tlie 
Freiicli — in the winter of 1838 — 9 — and tlie vessel put 
back towards New Orleans. On tlie way back tlie 
vessel was lost, and everything on board went to tlie 
bottom. The passengers were saved, and reached New 
Orleans, and an American war-vessel — the sloop 
Natchez — carried Senor Cumplido to Tampico, from 
which point he walked to Mexico in nine days. 

Again he set to work to retrieve his fortunes, and in 
three years was enabled to start once more for New 
York. There he again fitted out an office, and return- 
ing to Mexico with ten printers, engravers, and litho- 
graphers, established the first daily newspaper in Mex- 
ico. He has gone through all the changes of fortune 
incident to public life in Mexico ; has been exiled, had 
his property confiscated, etc., etc., but has every time, 
by his energy and resolution, placed himself again on 
his feet. He has visited the United States ten times? 
and his love of republican institutions has increased 
with each visit. He has published several very credit- 
able volumes of polite literature, and still takes an ac- 
tive interest in the business of the office. His summer 
residence at the suburban village of San Angel, beyond 
Tacubuya, is a model of elegance, beauty and good 
taste, and he is counted as a man of independent 
wealth. His son still carries on the business which the 
father commenced, and " M Siglo X/X" is the oldest 
and most flourishing paper in Mexico. Its old editor, 
Francisco Zarco, who died while Mr. Seward was 
in Mexico, was the ablest journalist among the Reform 
party in the Republic. His place is now ably filled 
by Seiior Antonio Mancillas, formerly publisher of " M 
Voz de Mejico " in California, and now member of Con- 
gress from Zacatecas. 



PEESENT POOE KSTDUCEMENTS TO IMMIGEANTS. 397 

The Congress and people of Mexico are now discuss- 
ing schemes for inducing immigration from Europe and 
the United States. There are some fanatics who op- 
pose all immigration, and in order to keep the country 
and all its institutions exclusively Mexican, are willing 
to see the present state of things continue indefinitely; 
but these are few in number, and not very influential. 
The mass of the educated and thinking men admit the 
necessity of great changes in the condition of the coun- 
try, and look to a liberal immigration as one of the 
most important, and, in fact, indispensable measures for 
the regeneration of Mexico. It seems to be the pre- 
vailing impression that the general system of internal 
improvements which has been projected and is now be- 
ing slowly carried out, will result in the end, in draw- 
ing into the country a great immigration. 

In this I fear that Mexico will be in some measure 
disappointed. My reasons are these : First, the inces- 
sant revolutions and wars of fifty years have created 
the impression that there is no stability in the institu- 
tions of Mexico, no guarantees for the safety of life or 
property, and no security for the future ; and even now^ 
when we see a tolerably strong government and a state 
of comparative peace, people abroad cannot believe 
that either will last. Secondly, that the inducements 
to common labor, unbacked by capital, are so much 
stronger in the United States, where there is yet an un- 
limited extent of virgin soil, that the tide will almost 
inevitably turn that way. Wages for common labor in 
the United States range from one dollar and a half per 
day in the East, to two dollars and a half, or even four 
or five dollars in California. In Mexico the average is 
from twenty-five to fifty cents at the utmost, and there 



398 A HOPEFUL VIEW OF THE CASE. 

is a surplus of labor in the market even at these rates. 
Tlien the laboring classes of Mexico live in a manner 
which no other population — the Chinese, perhaps, 
alone excepted — would willingly endure, and they can 
afford to work for a mere fi-action of what would sup- 
port a European or American laborer's family. For 
these and other reasons, I think that there is no imme- 
diate prospect of a large industrial immigration to 
Mexico from any part of the world. 

But, on the other hand, does she need it ? I do not 
think so. Mexico has to-day a population of eight mil- 
lion, five hundred thousand people — and that, too, after 
fifty years of wars and incessant revolutions, which 
have forced into the army the bulk of the able-bodied 
men of the nation, depopulated the rural districts, and 
reduced the great mass of the conununity to the most 
abject poverty. Its population equals that of the 
United States in proportion to its present area ; and as 
fecundity is one of the most marked features of the na- 
tive population, it must be evident that a few years of 
peace would very largely increase it. With peace will — 
or would — come railways and manufactories, and an in- 
flux of foreigners with more or less capital to invest 
in all kinds of enterprises, which would build up the 
country, and rapidly develop its almost illimitable 
resources. These foreigners would employ the native 
laborers, who are admitted by all to be patient, endur- 
ing, and anxious to work if paid and decently treated. 
As the condition of the laborers improved, and the ag- 
ricultural population, now landless, began to become 
land-owners on a small scale, wages would rise, and for- 
eign laborers would find it to their interest to come 
here and settle. Mexico has rich mines, wonderfully 



THE GEE AT ]S1EED OF MEXICO. 399 

ric"h lands, and a climate wHcli tlie world cannot excel ; 
but slie must liave other inducements than these alone, 
to offer to immigration. The time is not far distant, 
if peace continues, when she will have such induce 
ments ; but at present she must " learn to labor and to 

wait." 

Now this may look like a discouraging view of the 
conditions and prospects of the Eepublic, but I do not 
so regard it. There are enough of willing laborers 
now unemployed, or but partially employed in the 
country, to develop a large trade along the line of any 
railroad yet projected, and ten or twenty years of peace 
would immensely increase the available laboring popu- 
lation of the country, without any addition from immi- 
gration. If the Government can hold its own against 
factions and disorganizers, and the people can learn to 
restrain their natural impatience, and refuse to listen to 
the appeal of demagogues and unprincipled political 
charlatans, for that time, all will be well with Mexico, 
and she will then care little whether immigration comes, 
or stays away. Her institutions, and the patriotism of 
her people are now being tried to the utmost, and a 
year or two more will tell the story, and decide the 
fate of the country for good or ill, for centuries to come. 

Despite the poverty of the Mexican Treasury, the 
depression of trade and manufacturing interests, and 
the frequent abortive attempts at revolution in the va- 
rious States, the administration is quietly and steadily 
carrying out an extended system of internal improve- 
ments which, when completed, will prove of immense 
benefit to the country, and the grand effects of which 
are already felt to some extent. The railroad from the 
City of Vera Cruz is now a fixed fact one hundred and 



400 INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS. 

twenty miles — to Piiebla — being completed at this end 
of the route, and fifty fi'om Vera Cruz westward, leav- 
ing a gap of only about one hundred and twenty miles. 
The Tehuantepec Inter-Oceanic Railroad may be built, 
the Tuxpan and Manzanillo or San Bias Railroad grant 
will soon pass Congress, and other roads are projected. 
The Valley of Mexico is to be drained and rendered 
healthy by improvements already well advanced, and 
soon to be completed. 

Among the many improvements going on, I may men- 
tion as particularly promising, the projected line of 
communication between the City of Mexico and the 
port of Tampico. 

Under the special decree of the 25th of May, 1868, 
the Mexican Congress made an appropriation of three 
thousand dollars per month, to open a wagon-road be- 
tween Ometuzco and the river Panuco. The object is 
to connect the City of Mexico and the port of Tampico 
by the most direct route, and at the same time, give 
protection to one of the richest and most interesting 
poitions of the Sierra and Huasteca country. A Com- 
mission of Engineers, headed by John C. C. Hill, was 
appointed by the Government of Mexico on the 10th 
of June, 1868, to explore the country, in order to select 
the best route, with the understanding that the road 
must, under any circumstances, touch at Zacual- 
tipan and Huejutla, and terminate at the most 
suitable point on the Panuco river, where navigation 
is at all seasons of the year practicable, by small steam- 
boats down to the Gulf. The point selected is Tanjuco, 
a small Indian toA\Ti, conveniently situated on the east 
bank of the Panuco river, about fifty miles above 
Tampico. 



AN EMPORTAISTT EAILEOAD PROJECT. 401 

Ometuzco is one of tlie stations of tlie Vera Cruz 
Eailroad, forty-two miles fi'om tlie City of Mexico; 
therefore tlie wagon-road from Ometuzco to Tanjuco 
will only be about two hundred miles in length when 
finished. The works on this road were commenced on 
the 15th of October, 1868, and have been progressing 
ever since, notwithstanding the reduced resoui'ces of 
the Grovernment. The work is divided into three main 
divisions : first, from Ometuzco to Zacualtipan ; second, 
from Zacualtipan to Huejutla, and third, from Huejutla 
to Tanjuco. The works on the first division are pretty 
well advanced ; the first section, comprising about thirty 
miles from Ometuzco to the City of Tulancingo, has 
been open to the public for the last eight months, 
and will soon be completed to Zacualtipan, ninety miles 
from Ometuzco. 

If the resoui-ces of the Government will permit the 
work to progress as it has during the present year, 
throuo-h communication may be opened within two 
years, when this portion of the country, which contains 
so many undeveloped elements of wealth, and a popu- 
lation as large in proportion to its extent as any other 
part of the Republic, will commence a deve^o]3ment, 
which, with peace, will exceed the brightest anticipa- 
tions of the friends of the enterprise. 

The projected line of railroad known as the " Tux- 
pan," which is to run — if built — from the Gulf of Mex- 
ico to the Pacific, is a most important enterprise. It 
will run through a beautifnl and highly productive 
country, and the local trade ought to be sufficient to 
support it, in its fall length. 

Benito Juarez has now been ten years in power in 
Mexico, and with such a premier as Lerdo de Tejada, 
26 



402 THE POLITICAL SITUATION. 

he could hold his own for life, and reduce all the fac- 
tious elements in the Republic to order, if he had a 
treasuiy even moderately well supplied, so as to enable 
him to pay the army regularly, and keep the civil em- 
ployes of the government beyo^^d the reach of want 
and constant temptation. 

But there is the great trouble. Sen or Don Matias 
Romero, the Minister of Hacienda, (i. e. Secretary of 
the Treasury,) is probably more obnoxious to the vio- 
lent opposition faction in Congress than any other man 
in the cabinet, and Congress, with a stupid blindness 
to i^e 2'ood of "^Mi'e country, obstinately persists in de- 
featingall his iniciatives^ utterly crippling the Govern- 
ment, and paving the way for endless disorder, misery, 
and confusion, by depriving the treasury of all its sour- 
ces of supply. Whether any improvement in the con- 
dition of things would result from a change of ministry 
is doubtful. Romero seems to have done all that any 
man can do, to repair the finances, and bring order out 
of disorder. 

Meantime, tbe Government has on its hands any 
amount of work in putting down brigandage, and sup- 
pressing the pronunciamentos, which though thus far de- 
tached and disconnected, are constantly breaking out in 
all parts of the Rej^ublic. No sooner is one put down 
than another — generally originating in local causes but 
none the less dangerous on that account — ^breaks out at 
some distant locality. So long as the troops are paid 
they Avill support the Government, faithfully, and they 
have certainly shown great efficiency, and accomplished 
much within the past two years. But when -the point 
is reached — if it ever is reached — that the administra- 
tion cannot provide means to pay the troops, then sue- 



MORAL RESPONSIBILITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 403 

cessful revolution will become, not only possible, but 
certain. 

A few more general revolutions would render all 
hope of tlie establishment of a permanent government 
in Mexico, by the Mexicans themselves, out of the ques- 
tion, and the United States would be driven, against 
the will of our people, to consider, seriously, the ques- 
tion of intervention in some form, for the protection of 
the common interests of America against Europeans, 
and Republicanism against Monarchy. Try to disguise 
it as we may, the United States stand in the position 
of God-father to Mexico, and we are morally responsi- 
ble for her future. 

It is our interest not to absorb Mexico, nor to cripple 
her, but to aid her in establishing an independent and 
stable government, and developing her almost incalcu- 
lable resources. We have territory enough, and need 
not covet the fair fields of Mexico. But there must be 
an end to violence and disorder some time, and if all 
our hopes should be blasted — God grant that they may 
not be — and Juarez is compelled to give way to a series 
of irresponsible military chiefs — who will follow each 
other in quick succession and each leave the country 
more impoverished and helpless — the end is inevitable, 
and we must prepare to look the question fairly in the 
face. 

I know from personal observation — and am sorry to 
say it — that there is a large party among the educated 
and intelligent native-born population of Mexico, who 
look without a particle of confidence, or ray of hope, 
on the present and future, and regard absorption by the 
United States as the least of the evils which threaten 
them, and, in fact, something inevitable. The foreign 



404 THE FRIENDS OF ANNEXATION. 

creditors of Mexico, and many of tlie European-born 
residents, would hail with delight the annexation of 
Mexico, peaceably or forcibly, to the United States, as 
it would give them assurance of the ultimate liquida- 
tion of their claims, and the restoration of order to the 
country. But while Mexico might be benefitted — I 
have my doubts whether she would be immediately, to 
the extent people in the United States generally sup- 
pose — we should be compelled to increase very largely 
our standing army, add immensely to our debt, and add 
an unhomogeneous element — numbering more than 
eight millions of people — endowed with all the rights 
of citizenship, to the population of the United States 
of America. Can we afford to do this ? Ought we to 
doit? 

With all the drawbacks in Mexico, one cannot but 
admit that there has been substantial progress made 
since the Liberal Party, with Benito Juarez at its head, 
came into power. Notable things have been accom- 
plished. 1st. The sequestration of the vast landed es- 
tate of the Church, and the destruction of its temporal 
power. 2d. The establishment of complete religious 
toleration and protection of all in the right to worship 
God according to their own consciences. 3d. The es- 
tablishment of Public Schools and the inauguration of 
a system of free public instruction yet in its infancy, 
but destined to work the greatest benefit to future gen- 
erations. 4th. The liberation and enfranchisement of 
all^ewis, and the destruction of the last form of legal- 
ized slavery. 5th. The freedom of the press, not yet 
complete, but nearly so, and soon to be perfect. 

Few nations have been able to do as much in so few 
years, and, that too, in the face of the most violent op- 



A PLEA FOR MEXICO. 405 

position from a bigoted and intolerant anti-progressive 
churcli party, and amidst domestic war, and a merciless 
and murderous foreign invasion, backed up by tlie 
strongest empire, and employing as tools and mercena- 
ries, tlie scum of all Europe. 

Shall not a nation whicli lias fought so long and well 
for its independence, and accomplished so much in the 
face of such obstacles, have a helping hand from its 
more favored and prosperous neighbor if it needs it ? 
Shall Mexico not be allowed the fullest grace, and most 
ample opportunity to conquer the elements of discord 
yet remaining within her borders, and advance to the 
place God intended her to occupy in the family of 
nations ? 



CHAPTER XYIII. 

PUEBLA, TLAXCALA AND CHOLULA. 

/^N the 18tli of December, the Seward party were, at 
^^ last, in readiness for departure from the Capital, 
and at 10 o'clock a. m., were all on board the special 
train, including Maximilian's — now President Juarez's — 
private car, which had been placed at Mr. Seward's dis- 
posal by Joseph H. Gibbs Esq., resident director of the 
Vera Cruz and Mexican Kailway. 

The house on Alfaro and Arco de San Agustine 
streets, had been crowded with friends until a late 
hour on the night previous, and our leave-takings were 
therefore mainly over. Only a few of the most inti- 
mate acquaintances of the different members of the 
party, accompanied us to the depot, to say " good-bye " 
again. A small detachment of the crack regiment of 
Mexico, the Zaj^adores, under command of a war-scarred 
veteran, Captain Ramirez, whose coat was covered with 
decorations for meritorious services, was sent along as 
an escort of honor, by the Government. 

General Mejia, Minister of War, Seiior Don Sebas- 
tian Lerdo de Tejada, Minister of State, and Senor Don 
Matias Romero, Minister of Hacienda, accompanied the 
party to the first station out of the city. Some of the 
ladies of the families of Senor Romero and President 
Juarez, went along to the Ometusco station where we 
met the return train, and Colonel Geo. M. Green, and 



BY EAIL TO PIJEBLA. 407 

Senor Don Antonio Mancillas, Deputy to Congress 
from the State of Zacatecas, witli his beautiful young 
wife, accompanied tlie party all the way to Puebla. 

The railway from Mexico to Puebla — about one hun- 
dred and sixteen miles, English, — is a first class one in 
every respect, and a part of the route was made at the 
rate of forty-five miles per hour. In the " Chief of Traf- 
fic," Mr. Geo. Gliddon, who has control of the running of 
all the trains, and accompanied the party, I recognized 
an old friend, whom I had known in the south before 
the late " little onpleasantness " sent one of us to the 
other side of the continent, and the other into the ranks 
of the rebel army. The engineers were also Americans, 
and know their business. The engine and cars were of 
American manufacture, though the road was built, and 
is owned and run by an English company. 

The road runs out fi-om the city in a north-eastern 
direction, past the famous old church of Guadaloupe, 
and along the shores of Lake Tezcoco ; then makes a 
long detour, and runs south-eastwardly to Puebla, 
through an open valley country skiii^ed. by high moun- 
tains all the way. The distance by wagon-road is only 
twenty-four or twenty-seven Spanish leagues, but the 
railway, in order to avoid the heavy grades, takes the 
longer circuitous route. For the first fifty miles the 
country is comparatively dry and poor, and the road 
runs through an almost uninterrupted aloe or maguey 
field, that plant requiring no cultivation, and paying 
better than any other crop on such ground. Though 
the plant yields material for rope, cordage, cloth, thatch 
for houses, etc., etc., it is used, almost exclusively, for 
the manufacture of the mildly inebriating swill called 
'pulque^ which forms a staple drink of the lower classes 



408 THE PYRAMIDS OF TEHUACAN. 

of tlie people. When the "blossom stalk starts out, it 
is cut off, and the center of the plant is hollowed out 
so as to form a deep cup. In this reservoir the sap col- 
lects, and once in twenty-four hours the Indians, with 
long calabashes, ^\ itli holes in each end, go around to 
gather it. They thrust one end of the calabash into 
the sap, and applying the other to the mouth, suck the 
sweet fluid up until the calabash is filled, then let it 
run into the pig-skins, in which it is carried to market. 
A little of the oV^ ])ulq%ie^ already fermented, is added 
to the fresh juice, and the skins being exposed in the 
sun for a few days the fluid is ready for drinking. 
None for me, thank you ! We saw them gathering thie 
sap all along the road. The amount of 'pidq^iie con- 
sumed in Mexico is almost beyond belief. 

" Wall stranger, what's a bar'l o' whiskey in a fam'ly 
o' eleven children, an' no cow ?" was the indignant reply 
of the Wabash Valley Hoosier, to an inquirer after 
useless knowledge, named Fitch, some years since. The 
same idea prevails with regard to pulque^ among the 
poorer Mexicans. Special trains are run over the road 
to carry indc[ue to the capital, and still, by far the 
gi-eater portion is brought in upon the backs of men, 
mules and donkeys. 

Some twenty or twenty-five miles from the city we 
passed the first pyramids, known as those of San Juan 
Tehuacan, which stand about a fourth of a mile from 
the railway, up towards the hills. There are two large 
ones, each apparently three hundred to four hundred 
feet in height, and well defined in their angles after the 
lapse of so many centuries. They were built from 
adobes^ and then covered over with earth, and sodded, 
to protect them from the rains and sun. A zigzag path 



THE BATTLE FIELD OF OTUMBA. 409 

leads up to the summit of the finest one, on wMcli there 
is a cross. The fine old church of San Juan Tehuacan 
stands near the pyramids, and there are little villages 
and hamlets all around. There are several smaller pyr- 
amids in the plain, but they appear to have been only 
begun and never finished. It is said that the largest 
of the pyi^amids of Tehuacan was opened by orders of 
Maximilian, and found to contain abundant evidences 
of great antiquity and many Aztec relics, but nothing 
of much intrinsic value. Soon after passing the pyi'a- 
mids, we went through the great battle field of Otumba, 
where Cortez, with his regular Spanish soldiers, and 
Tlaxcalan allies fought, and, after the most desperate 
struggle, routed, one hundred thousand Mexicans. 
There is a current tradition, to the effect that Otumba 
owes its name to an exclamation of Cortez after the 
battle. As he looked at the piles of the dead on the 
field, and bitterly counted the thinned ranks of his 
army, he exclaimed : 

"O tumba de mi soldados!" (O tomb of my 
soldiers !) 

The story may be safely regarded as on a par, in 
point of reliability, with those which pretend to give 
the origin of the names of Ohio, Iowa, Alabama, etc. 

There are only adobe-walled hamlets, patches of 
corn, and wide fields of aloe plants, to-day, on the 
ground where the fate of Mexico was decided nearly 
three centuries and-a-half ago. Not even a monument 
marks the spot, and if there were no railway station 
there, the traveler would pass it without being aware 
that he was upon grandly historic ground. 

At Ometusco, eighteen leagues from Mexico, we met 
the up-train bound for the capital, and took leave of the 



410 THE GRANDEST MOUNTAINS OF THE CONTINENT. 

families of the President, Senor Romero, and Mr. Nel- 
son. At Apam, half- way between Mexico and Puebla, 
we breakfasted as well as we could have done at any 
railroad station in the United States. 

At this point the country begins to change. Be- 
tween Mexico and Apam the country resembles Lower 
California to a consideraljle degree ; but from Apam to 
Puebla it has more the appearance of the foot-hills of 
the Sierra Nevada, in the gold belt of California, though 
the red soil of the latter is lacking. The aloe fields 
now begin to give place to corn fields, and the country 
is productive, and densely populated. 

We were now in the ancient State of Tlaxcala, in a 
plain situated among the grandest mountains of our 
continent. On one side Popocatapetl lifts his grand 
head, white with the snow of countless ages, and tur- 
baned vnth white, fleecy vaj)ors which cling, lovingly, 
around it, far into the deep, blue, cloudless sky. Next 
him stands his royal sister, "Z» Muger en Blanco^^^ 
(" The woman in white,") and opposite stands the " Ma- 
linchi," named after Cortez's Indian mistress, a mighty 
mountain, but not snow-crowned, covered with deep 
green pine forests, up to within four or five thousand 
feet of its summit, and surrounded with almost num- 
berless villages, each with its white church, and rich, 
wide corn-fields. 

The number of these hamlets, with large churches, is 
astonishing. It is said that there are no less than fifty- 
eight of them in the district known as the Malinchi, in 
the immediate vicinity of the mountain, and the entire 
country for hundreds of miles around is equally blessed. 
In spite of all this, the region has a villainous repu- 
tation as the favorite haunt of robbers and kidnappers. 



PUEBLA BY MOONLiaHT AND DAYLIGHT. 411 

and tlie population was supposed, by many, to he in 
tliat dissatisfied condition wHcli would make it readily 
available for carrying out a jpronunciamento^ by any 
ambitious and unscrupulous cliief wlio bas tbe money 
or influence to fairly start it. 

Rigbt before us, standing out bold and clear, and 
sharp in all its outlines, against tbe sunlit sky of Mex- 
ico, white and cold and peerlessly beautiful, stood tbe 
monarch of the land of the Aztecs — Orizaba. I have 
looked at the picture in wonder and delight for hours, 
but yet can find no words with which to describe the 
scene, and the emotions which follow the realization of 
the dream of a life-time. 

Twenty-one miles from Puebla, after passing the iron 
smelting works, we stopped a moment at the old Indian 
town of Santa Anna, the station at which passengers 
disembark for the old city of Tlaxcala, and then went 
on with accelerated speed over the descending grade to 
Puebla. 

We entered this old city of wealth, fashion, bigotry 
and revolutions, at 5 o'clock p. m., and the Governor 
and suite having met and congratulated Mr. Seward, 
the party went directly to the palace of the Bishop of 
Puebla, a structure almost as solid and massive as the 
pyramids, covering an entire block or square, and su- 
perbly furnished and decorated with gems of art. Each 
room is a house in itself, so grand are its proportions, 
and the palace is, altogether, equal to a small town. It 
faces the great cathedral of Puebla, the largest and 
richest religious edifice on the American continent, in- 
finitely superior to even the great cathedral of Mex- 
ico, and, in fact, one of the wonders of the world. 

After dinner I went out with some friends to walk 



412 war's desolations. 

in tlie Plaza, and saw the full, round moon rise up from 
beliind tlie mountains, flooding tlie wliole grand land- 
scape witli sucli a light as can only be seen, in perfection 
in the pure, dry atmosphere of Mexico, and throwing 
over the city of Puebla, with its ninety-seven churches, 
its ruined walls, its beautiful plazas, its green alamedas, 
and its hundred objects of historic interest, a beauty 
and a glory indescribable. Such a moonlight scene one 
witnesses nowhere outside the tropics, and rarely even 
there. 

We entered Puebla on Saturday evening, and not car- 
ing to intrude upon the worshipers in the great cathedral 
on Sunday morning, concluded to defer our visit to that 
leading object of interest until another time. We there- 
fore accepted the invitation of Mr. Adolfo Blumenkorn, 
an American citizen long resident here, to ride out 
through the suburbs, and see the ruin and desolation 
wrought by the late terrible war of which Puebla was 
the center. We went first to the old church of San 
Zavier, which was fortified by the Mexicans on the ar- 
rival of the French, and withstood the first attack. 
The streets leading to it all show evidences of the des- 
perate struggle which here took place. All the build- 
ings, for many blocks, are in ruins, or pitted with can- 
non-ball and bullet marks, and earth-works and tempo- 
rary defenses, now in ruins, are seen in all directions. 

After the defeat of the French by the Mexicans un- 
der General Zaragoza, on the Cinco de Mayo outside the 
city, they received re-enforcements, and having learned 
caution from sad experience, advanced on a different 
line, and in a more guarded manner, on the city. The 
new state-prison, which was almost finished when the 
war commenced, stands adjoining the great, old church 



THE SIEGE AND CAPTURE OF PUEBLA. 413 

of San Zavier, on tlie side fartlierest from tlie city, and 
of course in direct range of the batteries of tlie French, 
which were mounted upon a small hill some half mile 
further out. The state prison and church were held by 
the Mexicans until the walls were perforated every- 
where by balls, and the flying stones, knocked down at 
every volley from the French batteries, made the posi- 
tion no longer tenable. They then retreated into the 
plaza, nearer the heart of the city, where they threw 
up entrenchments. The French immediately took up 
their position in the church and state-prison, but that 
night the Mexicans opened upon them, and sent four 
hundred cannon balls through the two structures before 
morning, and the French, after a loss of some five hun- 
dred men, found the buildings too hot to hold them. 
Both buildings are now so riddled and shattered as to 
be untenable and worthless, and it is the general opin- 
ion that it will be cheaper to pull down the walls of 
the state-prison and rebuild from the foundation, than 
to attempt to repair it. 

When the Mexicans saw that the fall of Puebla was 
unavoidable, they blew up and wholly, or partially, 
destroyed a large number of churches around the out- 
skirts of the city, to prevent their being used as defen- 
ces by the French, when it should be their turn to be 
come the besiegers, and that of the French to be the 
besieged. The wisdom of this action was demonstrated 
when General Porfero Dia^, who had made the brilliant 
campaign of Tehuantepec and Oaxaca, sweeping every- 
thing before him like a hurricane, arrived before Puebla 
while Maximilian was being besieged at Queretaro, by 
Escobedo. Marquez, with the imperial troops, had ad- 
vanced from the city of Mexico to Apizaco, only one 



414 THE BATTLE FIELD OF CINCO DE MAYO. 

day's march fi-om Puebla, to relieve tlie garrison and 
meet Diaz, when the latter determined on the desperate 
but brilliant movement which decided the contest at a 
blow. At three o'clock in the morning he ordered a 
general assault by all his forces upon the city, which 
had not been besieged for an hour, and his victorious, 
but almost exhausted and worn out army responding 
with enthusiasm, one of the most determined and des- 
perate conflicts of our time followed. 

Dividing his force into thirteen columns, and charg- 
ing directly into the city from all points at once against 
a murderous fire from every house-top, earth-work and 
commanding position, he carried the place at the first 
assault with a loss of eleven hundred and seventy-six 
men, killing or capturing the entire Imperialist force 
with all its supplies, artillery, and munitions of war, 
and compelling Marquez to fall back on the capital in 
all haste, and put it in a condition to withstand a siege 
by the Eepublican forces, until the fall of Queretaro, 
the Empire and Maximilian rendered further resistance 
hopeless. 

From the church of San Zavier we rode out to see 
the battle field of the Cinco de Mayo, already famous 
in song and story. It has been so often described that 
I will not go into details. Coming back we saw more 
of ruin resulting from war, than we had previously no- 
ticed in Mexico. The destruction of life and property 
by this infamous war must have been enormous, and I 
doubt if Puebla will ever fully recover from it. The 
population of the city cannot now exceed eighty thou- 
sand ; it is doubtful if there is more than sixty thou- 
sand or seventy thousand, and after all the destruction, 
there is still one great church for every one thousand 



THE PKONU]SrCIAME]srTO IN" THE SLEEEA. 415 

men, women, and children in the city. There are vari. 
ous manufactories in and around the city, and the coun- 
try in the vicinity being very productive, there is con- 
siderable trade, especially since the completion of the 
railroad to Mexico in September last, but the city can- 
not be said to be in a very prosperous condition, 
nevertheless. 

We heard less here than in the city of Mexico con- 
cerning the pronunciamento against the Government in. 
the Sierra, in the State of Puebla. The general opinion 
at Puebla was that the movement had not any head, 
and that the various bands were small in numbers, and 
acting without concert or definite plan. But on the 
other hand, it was said that a deputation had been sent 
to Oaxaca to consult with the famous military chieftain, 
Porfiero Diaz, and ask him to take command, promising 
him the support of the disaffected in every part of the 
country, and a general and preconcerted rising against 
the Juarez Government. Their success would be a 
greater disaster to Mexico than the French invasion. 
If Mexico is to exist, as an independent nation, 
she must have peace^ and the inauguration of another 
general civil war would be the death knell of the 
Republic. 

We saw troops marched through the streets, and found 
General Alatorre absent in the mountains with some 
three thousand men, operating against the bands of 
guerillas which were making all the trouble, but could 
learn nothing more definite. There had been no fight- 
ing since the Sixth Battalion was surprised and routed 
at Xochipulco, on the 29th of l^ovember, for the reason 
that the guerillas were too active and cautious to be 
caught, or risk an engagement without great advan- 



416 THE ANCIENT REPUBLIC OF TLAXCALA. 

tages on their side, and tlie character of the mountain 
country is such, aa to make a successful campaign 
against them almost impossible. About sixty of the 
men of the battalion, wounded at Xochipulco, were 
there in the hospital under surgical treatment. 

We made good use of our time while at Puebla, and 
in its vicinity. No part of our trip was more replete 
with interest, and we enjoyed it to the utmost. On the 
19th we left Puebla, by railway, to visit the capital of 
the ancient Republic of Tlaxcala, renowned in the his- 
tory of Spanish conquest for the part its people took in 
fixing the chain of the conquerors, upon the neck of 
Mexico. How the Mexicans, hearing of the arrival of 
Cortez at Vera Cruz, asked permission of their hered- 
itary enemies, the Tlaxcalans, to be allowed to send 
commissioners through their territory, to see Cortez and 
find out what called him to the country ; how the 
crafty Tlaxcalans consented, and then agreed to pilot 
them on their way, but secretly dispatched emissaries 
in advance to make a treaty with Cortez — which they 
did — and joined hands with the invaders against the 
Mexicans, whose costly presents to Cortez had excited 
his cupidity, and confirmed his determination to conquer 
their country, has all been told by historians, over and 
over, and I will therefore confine myself to what I saw 
and heard, on this old historic ground, in the last, 
bright, sunny days of the good year 1869. 

From Puebla to the station of Santa Anna, by railway, 
is only twenty-one miles, English, and with a special 
train we made it in less than forty minutes ; in Cortez' 
time it must have taken considerably longer. The old 
Indian toAvn of Santa Anna, is half in ruins, but there 
is still a little life left there. We saw an immense en- 



A TEAIN OF PACK-INDIA IVS. 417 

closure of timber, in tlie form of an ampMtlieater, wliicli 
they were erecting for a '■'■plaza de toros^^'' wliere tliou- 
sands of people doubtless flocked from all tbe surround- 
ing country, about New Years, to indulge in and gloat 
over tbe brutalities of tbe bull-figbt. 

Entering carriages, sent for us by tbe Governor of 
Tlaxcala, to ride some tbree or four miles down to 
the ancient city, we met, a little distance down the 
road, a train of pack-Indians, coming in from the moun- 
tains with lumber, with which to complete the amphi- 
theater. Each Indian carried on his back, suspended 
from his head by a leathern strap across his forehead, a 
pitch-pine beam, twenty feet long, ten inches wide^ and 
six inches thick. The weight of each of these beams, 
according to the lowest estimate made by members of 
our party, was four hundred pounds — I think it more 
probable that they would weigh five hundred pounds 
— and the load for a mule is only three hundred 
pounds ; yet these sturdy fellows carried them off at a 
dog-trot, talking good-naturedly as they went, and had 
probably brought them fifteen or twenty miles that 
day. Could our gymnasts do this ? 

Half an hour's ride over a dusty and heavy road, all 
out of repair, brought us to the ancient city, which, in 
its prime, occupied the heights on both sides of a nar- 
row valley for many miles ; at least, so Cortez said. 
There were four great chiefs of the Kepublic of Tlax- 
cala, and each dwelt in a grand palace on these heights. 
The Spaniards built churches on the site of each; 
and we have now only the ruinous old churches, and 
the doubtful statements of fishy, old historians, in evi- 
dence of their once having existed. The old town 

along the heights at the base of the Cerro Blanco, or 

2T 



418 THE FOUR CHIEFS OF TLAXOALA. 

AVhite Hills, has nearly all disappeared, and the loose 
and gravelly soil lias been so washed by the rains of 
centuries, as to make it impossible to trace with any 
certainty, its original outlines. There are still, any 
number of old churches, scattered here and there all 
over the wide landscape ; but where the one hundred 
thousand people, who inhabit the little State of Tlax- 
cala, live, is more than I could see. 

The present town, which is mostly Spanish-built, is 
situated on the flat between the heights, and may con- 
tain five thousand people, I should say at a venture. 
It has many buildings unquestionably dating back to 
the days of Cortez, and is a place no intelligent trav- 
eler in Mexico can afford to omit visiting. 

The Governor of Tlaxcala, an intelligent gentleman, 
apparently of pure Indian blood, with his staff of officials, 
welcomed Mr. Seward, and escorted the party to the 
State Palace, an unpretending old building, in which 
the Congress or Legislature meets. This building, pooi- 
and j^lain as it is, contains priceless treasures for the 
antiquarian and student of history. 

In the hall of Congress, I noticed portraits, rudely 
painted in oil, of the foui' Chiefs of the Republic of 
Tlaxcala after they had been converted to Christianity. 
Each has the prefix " Seiior Don " before his name, 
and a Christian name before his unpronunciable Indian 
surname. They are in full, Indian costume, and by the 
side of each is his coat of arms. From the mouth of 
each issues the words he pronounced at his baptism. 
One says " Viva Jesus T another Viva Maria P^ an- 
other " Viva Jose r and the last " Viva Joachin P^ In 
costume and general appearance they would pass for 
Navajo or Mojave chiefs of the present day, and I 



THE EOTAL BAIN^NEE OF HEE]SrA]SrDO CORTEZ. 419 

liave no doubt, that they were about on par witli them 
in intellio-ence and civilization. 

In the next room we saw the identical royal banner 
of S23ain, which Cortez unfolded before the eyes of the 
astonished and delighted Tlaxcalan emissaries at San 
Juan de Ulloa, and which, after the conquest of Mex- 
ico, he presented to the city of Tlaxcala in achnowledge- 
ment of the eminent services rendered by the Tlaxca- 
lans, in overthrowing the old Aztec Empire. Though 
three hundred and forty years have passed aw^ay since 
it was unfurled on the shore of Mexico, it is almost 
perfect to-day. It is some nine or ten feet long, and 
six broad " and swallow tailed" in j)attern. The mate- 
rial is rich, heavy, silk brocade, originally of a light 
" maroon" or possibly "ashes of roses" color, and not 
badly faded. The cords and tassels and the points of 
the banner are a little ft-ayed and worn, but not badly 
so. The Shield with the royal coat of arms, the two 
castles, and two lions rampant, is embroidered in red, 
on yellow silk, and sewed upon the upper right hand 
corner of the banner. The iron oj)en-work spear-head 
with the monogram of the sovereigns of Spain in the 
center, once gilded, and the broken staif on which the 
banner was carried, are still with it. Vast sums have 
been offered for this old banner to be carried back to 
Spain, but the city of Tlaxcala has steadily refused to 
part with it at any price. 

Then we were shown numerous old banners, inclu- 
ding those of the ancient city and Eepublic of Tlaxcala 
before the Spanish conquest, very rude and very curi- 
ous, and numberless manuscripts of great age and in- 
terest. One of these old illuminated manuscripts, is an 
authenticated translation of the original Indian docu- 



420 THE SECRET OF THE GOLD PLACERS. 

rnent, ordering, on behalf of tlie Republic of Tlaxcala, 
eighty tlioiisand picked men, to niarch with Cortez 
against Mexico. This was translated by the order of 
Cortez himself Other documents beautifully illumin- 
ated, signed " Yo el Rey^'' (I the King,) and of the 
time of the Conquest, are there in abundance, with 
hundreds of later date, hai'dly less interesting. We 
could have spent days in looking over these curi- 
ous old records of the dead and now almost forgotten 
past, but had only an hour or two at our command. 

Among the curiosities in this room, is the war-drum 
of the Tlaxcalans, a curiously carved and hollowed log 
of dark, hard wood, like rose-wood, some thirty inches 
in length and six or eight in thickness, of which a full 
description and good illustration is given by Prescott. 
Two lips left on the upper surface, have play enough to 
give off sharp musical notes when struck by the hand, 
or with a stick, and the instrument, in the hand of a 
first-class professor of Tlaxcalan music, ^vould doubt- 
less be made t-o produce as inspiring strains as the old 
Scotch bagpipes, though I think one of our modern 
military bands in full play would discourage him. 

One old document is particularly illustrative of the 
character of the pious peo23le who spread religion and 
desolation through the land of the Aztecs. It recites, 
that after the conquest, a sub-tribe of the Tlaxcalans 
used to bring in large quanties of gold-dust from 
some placer in the vicinity, the locality of which they 
refused to disclose. They gave enough of this gold to 
the Church to make and pay for the crown of the Vir- 
gin of Guadaloupe at Mexico, which cost eighty thou- 
sand dollars. The Spaniards, excited by the sight of 
this wealth, took some of the Indians, tied them up in 



THE VIRGIlsr OF TLAXCALA. 421 

the plaza in front of tlie hall in which we read the rec- 
ords, and whipped them most unmercifully to compel 
them to reveal the locality of the mine. The Indians 
bore the torture in grim silence, and next day twenty 
thousand of them, including all who knew the secret, 
left for Guatamala, and the locality of the placer re- 
mains undiscovered to this day. 

The same thing is now going on in a district between 
Puebla and Tuxpan. The Indians are bringing in, from 
time to time, quantities of gold dust, for sale, at a 
small town near which has been recently discovered the 
ruins of an ancient city. They also brought in a box 
of stones which have been pronounced diamonds of the 
first water, by the jewelers of Mexico, but refused to 
tell where the gold and stones came from. It is sus- 
pected that they came from the ruins, and a party of 
my personal friends are now being fitted out in the 
city of Mexico, to go and make a thorough explora- 
tion of the locality. 

The Virgin of Guadaloupe has a rival in this locality, 
in the Virgin who has a church on the hill above the 
city of Tlaxcala. It is said that the Bishop of Tlax- 
cala being pursued at night, by his enemies and the en- 
emies of the Faith, saw the Virgin among the limbs of 
a pine-tree, and just at the moment of his direst ex- 
tremity, the trunk of the tree flew open, and shutting 
again like the trap-door in a pantomime, enclosed him 
within it. The enemy ran past without discovering his 
whereabouts, or, what is more singular, noticing the lu- 
minous Virgin roosting in the tree overhead, and the 
tree, opening again, let him out in safety. Of course 
this miracle could not be kept secret, and the church 
which was erected on the spot, rivals that of Guada- 



422 THE OLDEST CHURCH ON THE CONTINENT. 

loupe in sanctity and attraction for the Indians of 
Tlaxcala and its vicinity. I tliink it is but right that 
it should do so under all the circumstances. 

We went with the Governor to the ancient church 
of Tlaxcala, which was commenced in 1529, and is, un- 
questionably, the oldest structure devoted to the wor- 
ship of God on the North American continent. It is 
in excellent preservation, but was never very rich in 
ornamentation, falling far behind many others we had 
seen in obscure parts of the country. The paintings 
too are poor and if it were not for its history there 
would be littl^ to attract a visitor. But there we saw 
the pulpit which bears an inscription showing that it 
was the first erected in " New Spain," and from whence 
the gospel of the Cross was first preached to the na- 
tives of the New World. 

Then we saw the great baptismal font, hollowed 
fi'om a single block of lava, in which were baptised the 
four Chiefs of the Republic of Tlaxcala, and the Gen- 
eral in command of the armies before the advance upon 
the City of Mexico. There are many old paintings of 
no artistic merit, representing martyrdoms and persecu- 
tions of the saints in all forms. Those old saints 
must have had a very rough time of it from all ac- 
counts and after seeing what they had to suffer, I am 
thankful enough that an all- wise Providence never de- 
signed me for one. I don't think I could fill the posi- 
tion with any degree of credit to all pai*ties concerned. 
One pictiu-e represents the Pope in a triumphal car 
drawn by four fat and healthy horses, each led by a fat 
and healthy angel, riding over the bodies of the " Re- 
formers," and dragging behind him in chains and dis- 
grace, Luther and Calvin. Rather rough, this on the 



THE MIRACLE OF TLAXCALA. 423 

reformers, but it is tlieir business, not mine, and if they 
can stand it, I can. The ceiling under tlie roof of this 
old church is a marvel of beauty. It is of cedar col- 
ored by time to the hue of mahogany, wrought with 
exquisite skill, gilded in places, and varnished. Tra- 
dition says that this work was done by the angels in 
the night, and that when the Bishop came at morn- 
ing to begin it, he found to his astonishment that they 
had completed the church and left him nothing more to 
do. All over the country the same or similar work 
was done on the churches, the angels in most cases do- 
ing as much at night as the workmen did during the 
day, and so the structure was half mortal and half im- 
mortal in its origin. In this case they did the ceiling 
entire, and it stands unharmed by time in all its perfect 
beauty to this hour. If I were a doubter or scoffer — 
which I am not — I might be tempted to suggest that 
the miracle would ha.ve been more conclusive and ef- 
fective, if the angels had come down in broad daylight, 
and performed the work in sight of the people ; but 
my faith enables me to see that their doing it after 
dark, in silence, and without even a candle or lantern 
to attract the attention of the jDublic, makes the mira- 
cle all the more wonderful, and the work more glorious. 
The job was done, that is certain, for there is the del- 
icate fretted ceiling, as perfect to-day as it was three 
hundred and forty years ago, and I for one, find it 
cheaper and easier to believe at once, than to waste 
time in raising doubts and discussing questions which 
profit a man nothing. 

After we left the chui'ch, a party of irreverent peo- 
ple from California, who came down by a train from 
Mexico, visited it, and carrying a basket of champagne 



424 CARRYING DEAD-HEADS. 

up to tlie belfrey, proceeded to driuk it and ring the 
bells in our honor, as we drove off for Santa Anna 
again. 

Among the decorations of this primitive church, are 
several effigies and pictures of Christ, of a character so 
utterly revolting as to faii'ly make one sick. It is al- 
leged in explanation, that the Indians required very 
vivid illustrations, to excite their imagination and fix 
religious impressions in their minds. These ought to 
fetch them. In one chapel there is a full-sized effigy 
of Christ upon the cross. His head is covered with an 
enormous shock wig of brown-red hair, the eyes, mouth, 
and nose discharging blood, wounds and bruises on 
every limb and feature, and the agony and pallor of 
the dying struggle so fearfully counterfeited as to pro- 
duce, in my mind at least, a sense of loathing and nau- 
sea almost uncontrollable. I would as soon think of 
going to a slaughter-house to worship the All-Merciful 
God who created the Heaven and the Earth, and made 
man in his own image and a little lower than the An- 
gels, as to that chamber of horrors, in the first Chris- 
tian church erected on the American Continent. 

There are some old skulls lying about the church, 
and the Californians put tw^o of them into the shawl 
which Mr. Gliddon was carrying. He did not discover 
the trick for some time, and when he did so he restored 
them to their place with the quiet remark, that 
as the superintendent of trains on the railway, he had 
been carrying so many " dead-heads " of late, that he 
did not notice the presence of one or two, more or less, 
unless his attention was specialy drawn to them. We 
got back to Santa Anna at 6 p. m., and returned to Pu- 
ebla to dinner. 



AN EXCUESIO]Sr TO CHOLULA. 425 

On tlie 20tli of DeceniLer, our party re-enforced by a 
number of friends from the capital, started in carriages 
for Cholula, to visit the pyramid of which nearly every 
school-boy has seen a picture in his geography. A ride 
of two leagues over a rough and dusty road, through 
an open country, brought us to the ancient city, said to 
have once contained four hundred thousand people. It 
is situated in an open plain, with the grand circle of 
great mountains, Popocatapetl, El Muger en Blanco, 
Malinchi, Orizaba and the lesser peaks in the distance. 
It must have suffered fearfully fr'om the Spanish con- 
querors, and has been steadily declining in importance 
to the present day, being now but a mere fragment of its 
former self. 

The people are nearly all of unmixed Indian blood, 
hardy, industrious, and peculiarly respectful and well- 
behaved. They cultivate a wide area of fertile valley 
land, in a manner reminding one of the Chinese, and 
supply the City of Puebla, almost exclusively, with 
market vegetables. 

After the party entered the Valley of Mexico, the 
appearance of Mr. Seward seldom produced any re- 
markable demonstrations of enthusiasm among the com- 
mon people, and we had no reason to expect any different 
reception at Cholula, in view of the apathy manifested 
at Puebla, so near at hand. But we were destined to wit- 
ness a display, as novel and curious as it was unexpected. 

The whole country abounds with old churches, all 
of which have chimes of fine-toned bells still remain- 
ing in their towers, though the greater portion of them 
have but a limited number of worshipers within their 
walls at any time in these latter and degenerate days. 
As we neared Cholula the people were seen running 



426 NOVEL AND ENTHUSIASTIC llECEFnON. 

tlirougli tlie fields towards the town, and the bells com- 
menced ringing from every tower in the city and its sub- 
urbs. The number of bells which thus at once sent forth 
their voices in welcome to the stranger, could hardly 
have been less than one hundred, and the ringers 
worked as if life and death depended on their exer. 
tions. 

When the procession reached the Plaza, two fine 
brass-bands — all the musicians being natives of Cholula 
' — struck uj) their liveliest airs, the Prefecto Politico 
and the Ayuntemento of the town came forward to 
welcome Mr. Seward, and the party, dismounting from 
the carriages, marched to the to\vn-hall, the entire 
population, men, women, and children, with eager curi- 
osity depicted on their features, following, or running 
by their side. In the hall, behind the desk of the Pre- 
fecto^ was a full-length portrait of the Virgin of Gua- 
daloupe, and on the desk lay two silver maces with 
globes at the end surmounted with the eagle and nopal 
of Mexico. These emblems of authority are not unlike 
in ajDpearance to the mace represented in the picture of 
Cromwell disbanding the Long Parliament, when he 
exclaims, " take away that fool's bauble !" 

The Prefecto made a warm and sensible speech in 
behalf of the people and Ayuntemento of Cholula, 
welcoming Mr. Seward and his friends to the hospitali- 
ties of the ancient city, and alluding in warm terms to 
the services rendered to the cause of Mexican independ- 
ence, through him, by the Government and people of 
the United States ; to which Mr. Seward replied : 

Sir : The attendance of the civil authorities of the District, 
the complete array of the municipality of Cholula, more than 
both, the grave procession and thoughtful assemblage of citizens, 



ME. SEWAEd's ADDEESS TO THE CHOLULANS. 427 

leave me no room to doubt the sincerity of your generous words 
of welcome. The scene seems to me like one of those which 
awaken momentary inspiration. I am on the steps of the Az- 
tec Pyramid, which is one of the most stupendous altars of hu- 
man sacrifice that was ever erected to pjopitiate the Deity, in 
the ages when he was universally understood to be a God of 
Yengeance. Around me lies that magnificent plain where an 
imperial savage throne was brought down to the dust, by the 
just revenge of an oppressed aboriginal Kepublic. I am sur- 
rounded by Christian churches and altars which tell how for- 
eign civilized states exacted eternal subjugation, and the civil 
bondage of a rude people, in return for conveying to them the 
Gospel of " Peace on earth and good will toward man." 

The serious Eepublican aspect and deportment of the chil- 
dren of the Aztecs to whom I am speaking, remind me that af- 
ter a long contest with ecclesiastical, monarch ial, and imperial 
ambitions, the independence of the ancient Aztec race has been 
reconquered without the loss of the Christian Religion, and 
consolidated in a Pepresentative Federal Pepublic. Witnesses 
of towering majesty and impressive silence, are looking down 
upon me ; La Malinchi, bewildering because she is indistinct, 
and the volcanoes Popocatapetl, Ixtacihuatl and Orizaba, clad 
in their eternal vestments of snow, attest that nature remains 
unchangable, and only men, nations, and races, are subject to 
moral revolution. 

Gentlemen and Citizens : the circumstance that I am here, not 
as an enemy, but as a friend ; a friend of the town of Cholula, 
a friend of the State of Puebla, a friend of the Pepublic of 
Mexico, enables me to study Mexico, her country and people, 
more carefully, and I trust to understand them better. From 
this place at once so sacred and so imposing, I must take leave 
to say to all states and nations, that Mexico neither needs, nor 
desires foreign protection, that she is capable of independence 
and self government, and susceptible of friendship ; but that 
in her case as in all others, those who would enjoy her friend- 
ship must offer her on their part a friendship, which, though it 
may not be benevolent, must at least be sincere and disinter- 
ested. 



428 TIMERS REVENGES. 

The party, on tlie conclusion of Mr. Seward's re- 
marks, were escorted to tlie Louse of the Prefecto for a 
brief rest. At 2 p. m., the bands drew up in front of 
fche house, and the party, escorted as before by the whole 
population, started for the fine old parochial church of 
Cholula, the second iji age in Mexico. This church, 
though of enormous size and surrounded by an im- 
mense flagged court or plaza, is not to be compared to 
many othei*s in the country for magnificence. In style 
it is purely Moorish and quite unique. There are fifty- 
six low Moorish arches, supported by sixty-four columns 
painted in brilliant lime colors, and the altar and other 
appurtenances are all curiously antique in style and 
character. There are, of course, many old pictures, but 
none of them struck me as particularly fine. The 
church was commenced in 1530, and stands to-day ex- 
actly as it was finished more than three and a quarter 
centuries ago. 

The scene on the entry of the party to the church, 
was worthy the pencil of a painter, and curiously illus- 
trative of time's revenges. Where Cortez and his 
companions had bowed the knee, and knelt with un- 
covered heads when the Host was raised above the mul- 
titude, came an old grey-headed statesman, from a land 
then unknown, who had slept in Maximilian's bed the 
previous night, walking by the side of a descendant of 
those who crucified the Savior on Mount Calvary, and 
escorted bv the authorities of this ancient strong-hold 
of the Faith, while an American— Col. Green— with 
pale, sharp-cut, representative face, and, tall, slender fig- 
ure, clad in the uniform of the Mexican Army, led on 
the band of swarthy Aztecs, who were playing with a 
will, the " March of Zaragoza," an air as obnoxious to 



THE GREAT PYRAMID OE CHOLULA. 429 

the strict liigli cliurcli party, as is tlie Marseillaise to 
Napoleon III. Tlie tall form of Mr. Nelson, tlie United 
States Minister, towered above the crowd behind ; by 
his side walked General Slaughter — late of the Con- 
federate army — or of the late Confederate army — and 
after them came a crowd of Californians whose devo- 
tion to the cause of liberty is undoubted, l)ut whose re- 
ligious convictions of any kind, never deprived them 
of their capacity for imbibing champagne, nor kept 
them awake at night. A thousand curious natives fol- 
lowed, and seemed to heartily enjoy the entertainment. 

After a half-hour spent in viewing the old church, 
the party started to ascend the great pyramid, which 
stands on the outskirts of the town, but five minutes' 
walk from the church. All the world knows at this 
day all that anybody knows, of the history of this pyr- 
amid. That it dates back to the days when the people 
of Egypt were erecting the pyramids which still form 
the land-marks in the Valley of the Nile, cannot be 
doubted, and that it upheld a heathen temple, and was 
drenched with the blood of thousands on thousands of 
the human race, offered up as sacrifices to savage gods, 
is, unfortunately, too well authenticated. The pictures 
I have seen of the pyramid give no clear idea of it, as 
they represent the sides and angles of the terraces, as 
too sharp and well defined. I think, that at no time 
since the conquest has the pyramid presented an ap- 
pearance much different from what it does at ]3resent. 

One of the gentlemen in attendance on the Governor 
told me that the pyramid covered a space equal to a 
little more than forty-three acres at the base, and that 
its height was one hundred and seventy-nine feet, En- 
glish, or thereabouts. I should, at a venture, liave esti- 



430 THE GREAT PYKA31ID Ok' CHULULA. 

mated the size of the base at less than half that stated, 
and the height at nearly double the figures given, but 
presume that accurate measurements must have been 
made at some time, and its real dimensions are prob- 
ably known. The lower terrace is quite j^erfect, but 
the upper ones have become so washed by the rains 
and disturbed by the great trees which have taken 
root in the soil, that they are traceable, with certainty, 
only in a few places. A Avinding or zig-zag pathway, 
some thirty feet in width, and paved with lava, leads 
up to the summit of the pyi-amid. The old Spanish 
Zealots erected a Christian Church on the ruins of the 
ancient heathen temple, and that, too, becoming dilapi- 
dated and untenable with the lapse of years, was 
pulled down, and a new and very tasteful chapel, 
erected altogether by the labor of native Indian crafts- 
men, is now being finished, and will soon be dedicated 
to the service of the Christian's God. With the vanity 
of the human race, this pyramid has been selected, also, 
for a burial place, and Ave saw several new graves on 
the upper terrace, in the soil which has been soaked, 
time and time again, with the blood of human sacrifices. 

Two immense cedar trees, which must have been 
standing on the summit in the days of Cortez, were cut 
down, or hopelessly mutilated by the Avorkmen engaged 
in erecting the new chapel, and our party carried off 
numerous sam]3les of the wood as souvenirs of their 
visit. 

It has been the commonly accepted theory of the 
origin of the Pyi'amid of Cholula, that it Avas built as 
a temple and place for human sacrifice, altogether by 
the hand of man ; but while standing on its summit, and 



ITS COMPAISATIVE INSIGNIFICANCE. 431 

looking on tlie grand landscape wliicli surrounds it, a 
new theory suggested itself to me. Tlie pyramids in 
tlie Valley of tlie Nile stand out bold and grand, the 
great central figures in the scene, — undwarfed by com- 
parison with any great mountains in the vicinity. We 
can understand how men could seek to erect in such 
a locality, an enduring monument to their power and 
greatness. But here, in fall view of Orizaba and Popo- 
catapetl, the mightiest work of man is but a mole-hill 
hardly worthy of a moments notice, and even the ego- 
tism of the most barbaric nature must stand rebuked 
in the presence of these perfect works of the Almighty 
hand. I do not believe that there was ever a race on 
earth so vain as to erect such a monument in such a lo- 
cality ; and furthermore, there was no necessity for such 
an expenditui-e of time and labor as the erection of such 
a pile of adobe, in the Plain of Cholula, as this pyra- 
mid, if wholly artificial, would have called for. Scat- 
tered through all the valleys of Central Mexico, are de- 
tached hills, composed of washed gravel and earth, 
equal or superior in size to this pyi-amid. You can see 
a number of them from the point where we stood. 

It seems to me quite probable that one of these hills 
stood here where the Cholulans built their city ; and 
that in order to fit it for use as a tem^ile, they merely 
cut away the sides, and terraced it into its pyramidal 
form. The angles and faces of the terraces thus formed, 
must be protected from the effects of !.''- -^ storms, which 
would soon wash down the entire mound, and so they 
faced it over with adohes, laid up with care and inter- 
mixed with lava, which soon became a solid, concrete 
mass, as we see it to day. The adobes and layers of 
lava are perfect at many points, but in other places, 



432 A NEW THEORY AS TO THE PYRAMID. 

where tlie storms of thousands of years have told most 
strongly, they seem to have disappeared, and I thought 
I could recognize the original formation of the hill 
beneath. 

A little way off from the main pyramid is a smaller 
one, less regular in its outline, which is supposed by 
many — without any good reason that I can discover — 
to have been originally a pai-t of the greatest structure ; 
and a little farther away, an oblong pile of earth, with 
perfectly precipitous sides, resembling in shape a wagon 
load of hay or straw. Both these are evidently artifi- 
cial. There are no excavations in any direction for 
many miles around the great pyramid, from whence the 
vast amount of material for building it could have been 
taken, and the finely cultivated fields which, cut by 
regular streets, radiate from the pyramid in all direc- 
tions, indicate that the soil and surface of the ground 
in the vicinity, have never been disturbed. May it not 
be that the Cholulans, simply cut away the sides of the 
original hill as I have suggested, and with the earth 
thus removed, formed the smaller pyramid and lesser 
irregular pile near by ? I do not care enough for any 
theory on any subject, to defend this one if it is ever 
attacked ; but it seems to me to be a rational one under 
all the circumstances. 

Members of the Ayuntamento accompanied us to the 
pyramid, a servant carrying before them the silver- 
headed canes which serve as badges of their ofiice. Af- 
ter seeing all there was to be seen on the pyi'amid we 
descended, and returning to the Prefect's house partook 
of an elegant collation. Toasts were given and re- 
sponded to freely, and in the midst of the festivities, in 
marched a band, of the ancient Aztec class. 



THE MUSIC OF OTHER DAYS. 433 

TLe music produced by tlie three pieces, an Indian 
flute, kettle- di'um, and a drum shaped like a flour bar- 
rel, and made like it of tLin pieces of wood, hooped, 
with one end resting on the ground, bore a startling re- 
semblance to that which you may hear any night in the 
Chinese theatres in San Francisco, being pitched at the 
same high key, and the air being almost identical with 
the "Song of the Jasmin Flower," which is the favorite, 
through all the central Flowery Empire. 

The dark-hued, sandaled, and white-robed musicians 
played on through all stages of the entertainments, with 
faces as impassive as those of so many bronze statues. 
Only once did I see a look of startled interest for a mo- 
ment steal over their faces. It was when the Prefecto 
gave the health of the President of the United States, 
and the health of Presi(fent Juarez being given in re- 
sponse, the Americans gave three rousing cheers, and 
the Californians, springing to their feet, made the air of 
the sleepy, old town, ring with the wild yell of " the 
tiger." The look I had noticed faded from their faces 
as it came in an instant, and the music, so wild, and 
strange and weird, went on as before. When Colonel 
Green plied them with champagne, and whistled to 
them " Jordon am a hard road to travel," they took up 
the air, and played it with the same cold, quiet manner 
as they had played those of their native land; and 
when paid and dismissed, they marched away in grave, 
respectfnl silence, without a word or action to indicate 
whether they were pleased or displeased with the 
days — ^to them — novel proceedings. 

Mr. Seward was presented with a certificate of hon- 
orary membership of the Ayuntamento^ or Common 
Council of Cholula, and with wishes of success and a 
28 



484 



THE CATHEDRAL OF PUEBLA. 



pleasant reunion witli old friends among the home 
scenes of our native land, tlie kind people of Cliolula 
bid us good-bye, and in the gloaming of the evening we 
rode back to Puebla. 

I shall attempt no 
elaborate description 
of the Cathedral of 
Puebla, for several 
good and sufficient 
reasons. One is, that 
no description could 
give the reader any 
adequate idea of the 
vast proportions, 
great wealth, and ex- 
ceeding beauty and 
grandeur of this won- 
derful temple of the 
Christian faith,and an- 
other is, that so many 
descriptions have 
been attempted and 
resulted in failures, that I have no ambition to follow 
in the old, beaten track, knowing that I cannot com- 
mand the language adequate for success. 

The Seward party visited the cathedral, and saw all 
its wonders, from the grand choir, which outside is one 
mass of gilding and burnished precious metal, and m- 
side a curious mosaic of beautiful woods inlaid with 
wonderful skill, the great altar, which is built of varie- 
gated marbles, alabaster, and other beautiful stones 
from the State of Puebla, and gold and silver by the 
cart-load, the great pillars of bluish-grey granite, sup- 




OUR AZTEC MUSICIANS AT CHOLULA. 



ITS WONDEEFtlL WEALTH AND BEAUTY. 435 

porting arclies of tlie same material wliicli upliold tlie 
immense weight of the solid stone roof, and the foui'" 
teen stations of the cross — each a marvel in itself — to 
the skeletons of the saints and martyrs, covered with 
wax and so artistically wrought into the semblance of 
fresh human forms as to cheat the eye completely, 
dressed in robes of great richness, and shodden with 
golden sandals set with gems, which lie in state, each 
in its own great casket, all around the building. Even 
the tomb of the Bishops was thrown open and in- 
spected. 

The mighty pillars were covered from their capitals 
down to the pavement, with crimson silk plush, edged 
and embroidered with gold, in preparation for the 
grand Christmas festivities, and the whole church was 
being cleaned and prepared for the occasion. The last 
time the metal work — then nearly all gold and silver — 
in this cathedral was cleaned, the work cost foui* thou- 
sand dollars in coin, though done at the least possible 
expense. 

Much of the riches of this old cathedral have disap- 
peared within a few years, it is said, but the eye of the 
stranger looks in vain for any trace of the hand of the 
despoiler, save where once hung near the main entrance, 
the great chandelier, which Miramon took down and 
melted up, to pay his troops for fighting the battles of 
the church against the Re]3ublicans. He got forty 
thousand dollars out of this chandelier, and the curses 
of all the pious Catholics of Mexico, who were quite 
willing he should fight for the church, but wished him 
to make the enemy — not the church — pay the cost, and 
denounced the act as one of sacrilege, sure to bring 
down destruction on its author. 



436 OTHER OBJECTS OF INTEREST. 

What tlie value of the gold, silver, and precious 
stones in the cathedral at present may be, I have no 
idea, and no one can do more than make a random 
guess at ito I was greatly disappointed in the cathe- 
dral of Mexico, which is much dilapidated, dusty, and 
tarnished throughout, and fell far short of my ideal, 
formed from descriptions I had read of it ; but the ca- 
thedi'al of Puebla far surj^assed my expectations. 

We visited many other churches, the old college of 
the Jesuits, and the library — now secularized and thrown 
oj)en to the public — which contains twenty-four thou- 
sand four hundred volumes, mostly of great age, and 
valuable only to the antiquarian ; the school of design ; 
the Grlass Factory of Puebla, which is among the most 
extensive and complete works of the kind on the conti- 
nent; the hills and fortifications of Loreto and Gua- 
clalouj^e, from which the French aiTQy, forty thousand 
strong, was repulsed in the attack of the Cinco de 
Mayo, and many other objects of interest in and around 
Puebla. 

Among the j^laces visited was the Public Hospital of 
San Pedro, an excellent institution, clean, neat, and ad- 
mirably managed, containing one hundred and sixty- 
three j)atients, of which fifty were women. While 
there, a ]-)i-iuted slip was handed around with the follow- 
ing inscription : 

"The American and Mexican Union are Sisters. 
Therefore the Asylums of the sick of Puebla, present 
their respects to the Hon. Mr. Seward as one of theii 
Brothers. Hospital gral de San Pedro Diciembre 21 
de 1869." 

The manifestations in honor of Mr. Seward closed 
with a dinner to forty gentlemen, mostly Mexicans. 



SEEKEKS FOR BURIED TREASURES. 437 

given by His Excellency, tlie Governor of Puebla, Se- 
nor Don Ignacio Romero y Vargas. At tlie banquet 
Mr. Seward excused himself from making any lengtby 
speech in answer to tlie toasts in his honor, on the 
ground that he had already said enough to fully convey 
his ideas of matters and things in Mexico since he 
landed at Manzanillo, and did not care to impress 
his own countrymen with the idea that he was be- 
coming unduly garrulous and loquacious. He said of 
Mexico : 

" The season of her calamities is ended ; Mexico is still 
youthful, ambitious, hopeful. She possesses all the ma- 
terial and moral elements of national greatness. All 
that her people want is rest and peace, for five years, 
ten years, twenty years or fifty years ; the longer the bet- 
ter ; and she may now assume the way that leads to j)ros- 
perity and power among the nations. For this reason, 
when at Vera Cruz I shall be bidding adieu to Mexico, 
I shall wrest the inscription, " Requiescat in ])ace^'' from 
its customary aj)j)lication to the dead, and use it with 
all the inspiration of hope, affection, and gratitude, as 
an invocation of a blessing upon the living, " Mexico 
Requiescat in Pace ! " 

The stupid ignorance of the numerous seekers after 
the treasure supposed to have been buried in the United 
States by that famous Captain, whose "name was Rob- 
ert Kidd, when I sailed, when I sailed," and the Cali- 
fornian expeditionists in search of the pirate treasure 
buried on Cocos Island, has its parallel in that of the 
buried treasure hunters of Mexico to-day. AH over 
the country the impression prevails, that the Jesuits, 
when suddenly expelled from Mexico by the Spanish 
Government, buried, or otherwise concealed millions of 



438 A BASE IMPOSITIOJ!^. 

dollars worth of treasure, gold and silver statues, cliurcli 
plate, jewels, etc., etc., and millions have been expended 
and are still being expended, in search of the precious 
dei)osits. 

Mr. Adolpho Blumenkron is one of the most invet- 
erate of these treasure seekers. As we rode out of the 
city, ^ve Avere sho^^^l several old convent and church 
structures of great extent, now secularized, Avhich he 
has i^urchased, and mined under and burrowed about, 
like a ferret, in search of the treasure of the Fathers, 
but always with the same total want of success. He 
told us, how on one occasion he found the vault in 
which were buried some of the old church dignitaries 
of Cortez's time, and looking down into it, was glad- 
dened by the sight of two mummies each with a golden 
crown upon his head. He was into that vault in no 
time, with the help of Providence and a crowbar, and 
bore the glittering crowns out to the light of day. 
Fancy his feelings, when with trembling hands he ap- 
plied a file to the gaudy baubles, and found them to be 
a base cheat, a sham, bilk, delusion, fraud, and rascally 
imposition ! Would you believe it ? those crowns were 
made of tin or some other base metal, and gilded, and 
if the holy fathers ever had any others — save the final 
crown of glory — they were not buried in them, for rea- 
sons best known to themselves or their servants. 

It is believed that there were twelve statues of the 
Apostles of life size, made wholly from silver and gold, 
in the Jesuit College, and that the fathers — having re- 
ceived a secret intimation of the intention of the Gov- 
ernment — buried them somewhere thereabouts, and the 
search for them is not yet abandoned. 

In the City of Mexico, an apparently better foimded 



guatajjozin's last will. 439 

search is going on. It is well known tliat wlien Gua- 
tamozin was finally defeated by tlie Spaniards, tlie im- 
mense treasures which he was supposed to possess could 
not be found; and that the pious conquerors roasted 
him at a tree still standing at Chapultepec, to make 
him reveal their place of concealment. 

" This is not a bed of roses," is said to have been his 
quiet remark as they grilled him, but he never let up, 
and the secret — if there was any — died with him. 
JN ow, they have what purports to be the will of Gua- 
tamozin, in the Aztec language, setting forth the secret 
of the deposit, alleging that it was in the ground near 
where the last fight took place on the outskirts of the 
City of Mexico, and providing that his descendants 
should never reveal it nor search for the treasure until 
the power of the Spanish should be broken, and even 
then, that no Spaniard should ever be allowed to profit 
by it. Now, when the power of Spain on the conti- 
nent of America is broken, and the Church she founded 
in Mexico, in blood and outrage, has lost, or is fast 
losing its hold on the people, a descendant of Guata- 
mozin produces the will, and directs the search for the 
long buried treasure. I found that Col. Enrique Mejia 
and other ripe scholars in whose judgment I would 
implicitly rely, believed the will to be genuine, and that 
the treasure was really buried in the vicinity of the 
spot where the search is now being made, though they 
think the chances of the search being successful, after 
the lapse of centuries and the changes which have taken 
place in the locality, as extremely problematical, to say 
the least, and they do not take stock in the enterprise. 

We had heard much of the religious bigotry and fa- 
natical hatred of foreigners — especially Americans — man- 



440 PROTESTANTISM IN PUEBLA. 

ifested by the Pueblanos, before our arrival, and tlie late 
religious riot had led us to believe many of the state- 
ments to be true. But to whatever extent this feeling 
may exist among the lower and more ignorant class, it 
was never manifested by word or deed, toward Mr. 
Seward or any member of his party. We were lodged 
and sumptuously fed during our stay, in the " Ohi8])adoJ'' 
or Palace of the Bishop of Puebla, and nothing could 
be more kind and respectful than the demeanor of all 
classes toward Mr. Seward and his friends. I was all 
over the city by day and night, alone, wearing the un- 
dress uniform of an officer of the American National 
Guard, which left no chance for my nationality being 
mistaken, and always met the most kindly treatment. 
I w^as informed that the Government had given orders 
to General Alatorre and Governor Eomero, to protect 
the Protestant congregation in Puebla in their right of 
public worship of God according to their o^\ti con- 
science, at any cost and under any circumstances, and 
that the Catholic clergy, though naturally opjDOsed to 
the innovation on their customs, exercised through more 
than three centuries without dispute, were heard to 
rebuke, strongly, any disposition to resort to force and 
violence in opposing the spread of the — as they must 
of course regard them — heretical doctrines and practices. 
When we left, all was quiet in Puebla, and unless the 
Government troops meet with some severe reverse in 
the campaign against the guerilla bands in the Sierra, 
the Protestant element in Puebla is not likely to be 
again disturbed, or in any way maltreated, unless itself 
guilty of some act of wholly unjustifiable imprudence. 



CHAPTEE XIX. 

FKOM PUEBLA TO OrJZABA. 

"TTAVING hurried tlirougli Puebla as rapidly as 
possible, giving ourselves but half the time we 
should have taken earlier in the trip to inspect that 
old, historic city, its churches and its ruins, and the in- 
teresting country surrounding it, we left on the 23d of 
December for Orizaba. Mr. Fitch was jDlaced under 
the care of Col. Geo. M. Green as a military and moral 
precaution, and sent off in advance by the regular dili- 
gence which left at 2 a. m., and the rest of the party, 
accompanied by Senor Bossero, the commissioner sent 
out to Guadalajara by the Mexican Government to es- 
cort Mr. Seward through the entire Kepublic, left at 
sunrise in a special coach. Miss Parkman, daughter of 
an American thirty-two years resident in Guanajuato 
and married to a Mexican lady, had joined the party at 
the City of Mexico to go home with Mr. Seward, to re- 
main a year and learn the English language, of which 
she was, up to the time of our arrival, entirely ignorant. 

The morning air was chilly and raw when we left 
Puebla, and for the first time since leaving Manzanillo, 
we saw a fog hanging over the landscape. This fog 
came ft'om the Gulf of Mexico, and was, we were told, 
the effect of a Norther blowing down the coast. 

After a time it lifted, and rolled up the mountains 
in thin wreaths of snowy vapor, which softened the 



442 AMOZOC AND THE lEON-WOEKERS. 

ragged outlines of the great volcanoes, made the naked, 
brown, lavatic peak of Malinchi appear to shoot up- 
wards thousands of feet higher into the blue heavens, 
and as it took on the hues of the sea-shell and the rain- 
bow, when lighted up by the rising sun, crowned with 
a turban of glory the white head of the monarch Ori- 
zaba. 

Our first halting place was at Amozoc, an old Indian 
city, now principally famous for the skill of its workers 
in iron, and the shrewd impertinence of its venders of 
the articles. The coach had not fairly come to a stop, 
before the windows were blocked by j^eddlers of finger- 
rings, spurs, bridle-bits, toy flat-irons, etc., etc., of blue 
steel, inlaid with silver and handsomely engraved, 
which they thrust in our faces, and ofl^ered at the most 
fabulous prices, at the same time inviting a bid of any 
kind. We got about a quart of toy flat-irons, rings 
marked " M. L." — Mexico Libre — or Mexico is Free — 
etc., for a few dollars, and then a youth with a sinister 
countenance, tossed a pair of Sj^anish spurs — each of 
which would weigh fully a pound avordupois — into my 
lap, and insisted on my purchasing them. 

" How much T 

" Nine dollars, Seuor, and they are very cheap !" 

" I will give you three dollars." 

" Oh no, your Excellency, but you shall have them 
for eight." 

" Not if the court knows herself; I will give you 
three." 

" You shall have the spurs — and the silver is genu- 
ine, Senor — and this magnificent bridle-bit for seven 
dollars?" 

" Do you want three for the spurs ? I don't want 



J 



BAEGAINING FOR SPUES. 443 

the bit as a gift ; it is a tliousand years out of date, 
and must have been stolen by your ancestors from Her- 
nando Cortez or Alvarado !" 

" Five dollars, Sehor ?" 

" jSTo !" 

" Four ?" 

"No!" 

" Well, here take them !" and I did take them, and 
found next day that he had offered them to Col. Green 
a few hours previous for two dollars, and asked him 
what he would give — indicating a willingness to ac- 
commodate by going lower. I shall never wear those 
spurs with any degree of satisfaction. 

The iron is produced near the railway, some twenty 
miles from Puebla, and is converted into steel and 
wrought up with much skill by the native citizens, 
with the very rudest appliances. 

The people in the vicinity have a reputation for eccen- 
tricity. When the first telegraph line was erected 
along the road from Orizaba to Puebla, miles of the 
wire disappeared from the poles in the vicinity of Ama- 
zoc every night, in the most mysterious manner. At 
length the com j) any offered to compromise with the iron- 
workers by giving them, as a free present, a given 
quantity of wire annually, provided they would ensure 
the line remaining intact. The proposition was rejected 
with scorn, as an insinuation of a doubt upon the hon- 
esty and fair fame of the iron- workers ; but the wire 
continued to go off, until the company adopted a diff- 
erent material which could not be made useful by the 
skillful workers in blue steel and silver, and now ev- 
erything is lovely, and the line hangs high and undis- 
turbed. 



444 A MEXICAN BRIDGE BUILDER. 

Wlien tlie^railway comjDany, at the collapse of the 
Empire, found it necessary to suspend work a few 
months, more or less, on account of the condition of the 
country, it is said that they sent an English sub-super- 
intendent down to Amozoc, to take chars-e of the 
material on liand in that vicinity. With perfectly An- 
glican simplicity, he housed all the iron rails, and left 
the chairs and spikes out-of-doors. It is hardly nec- 
essary to say that on the resumption of work not a 
chair or spike was to be found, and I may add that the 
price of steel goods manufactured at Amozoc had mean 
time fallen to exactly the cost of the workmanship, no 
charge for material being reckoned by the enterprising 
Amozocians in their estimates of the expenses of carry- 
ing on the business. 

The leaving of the chairs and sj)ikes out of doors 
was of course an absurdity, but that it was quite nec- 
essary to house the rails is demonstrated by the fact 
that they used to disappear every night, when left out 
of doors and not fastened down. One day an officer 
of the company was riding some twelve miles distant 
from the track, when he saw a countryman driving an 
ox team, with one of the full length T rails, weighing 
sixty pounds to the foot, dragging on the ground behind 
them. Demanding to know what he was doing with 
the rail the fellow replied, with a shrug of the should- 
ers : 

"Oh, just going to build 2^ ]^untacita^^' (i. e., a little 
bridge.) 

"But that rail belongs to the railway company; 
don't you know that T 

" Oh, no, Senor, I did not know who it belonged to. 
Do you represent the company ?" 



AN AZTEC TOWER A^B SUIST-DIAL. 445 

" Of course I do, and I want that rail ?" 

" Very well ; if tlie rail belongs to you, I don't want 
it. Take it and welcome, Seiior. Bueiios tarde 
Senor !" and coolly unhitching the oxen fi'om the rail, 
he politely lifted his hat and walked off with his ani- 
mals, leaving the rail lying there, twelve miles from 
the track, for the owners to get it back as best they 
could ; it did not appear to worry him a bit. 

There are no silver mines in the vicinity, but the dil- 
igences were formerly stopped pretty regularly, and the 
supply of silver for ornamenting the steel work, appears 
to be still sufficient to meet the demand of the trade. 

His Excellency, Governor Komero, and staff, accom- 
panied us in his private coach from Puebla as far as 
Tepeaca, an old Aztec city nine leagues from Puebla. 
Here we stopped for breakfast, and parted with the 
Governor and his aids with mutual expressions of re- 
gret. The Governor had done all that any man could 
possibly do, to show Mr. Seward attention and respect, 
and made the stay of the party in the State of Puebla 
a pleasant one, and he will long be remembered with 
gratitude. 

Tepeaca has a history, if we had had time to stop 
and look it up. We breakfasted in a fonda opposite 
the grand plaza. In this plaza, in front of the church, 
stands a tall, square tower of brick or adobe, painted 
white, with a red tile roof, arched port-hole-like open- 
ings near the top, and a sun-dial painted on the side 
perpendicularly, according to the Aztec custom, instead 
of horizontally as ours used to be. On the dial is an 
inscription to this effect : " Here I am, and there is no 
mistake about me." This was a fortress of the Aztecs, 
and being very curious, the Spaniards did not destroy 



446 DARING FEAT OF A GUERRILLA. 

it, but preserved it as it now stands in perfection ; 
tliank tliem for so mucli at any rate ! It was doubt- 
less a good tiling in the days of bows and arrows, but 
a common six-pounder field-piece would have icnocked 
it into a cocked hat in no time. 

The Spaniards, in advancing up into the country 
from Vera Cruz, had a mare which they valued highly. 
Near Tepeaca the mare got loose, and ran away to the 
Aztec camp. The Indians determined to catch her 
alive, regarding her as the next thing to the God of the 
Spaniards, and one of the greatest contributors to their 
success. So they chased her on foot until many of 
them — so tradition says — dropped down dead from 
heat and fatigue, but their efforts were unavailing, for 
the Spaniards corralled her after all. 

In the late war between France and Mexico, the 
noted guerrilla chieftain, General Caravajal — who ac- 
companied us from Mexico to Puebla, Tlaxcala and 
Cholula — fought many minor battles along the road 
with the invaders, and always cleaned out his oppo 
nents. He is the very im23ersonation of the quick, 
adroit, brave, and withal patriotic guerrilla commander, 
and for such warfare has probably no equal on the con 
tinent. When the French were encamped at Tepeaca, 
he made a bet of five hundred dollars a side with Eo 
jas, that he would with his small band of guerrillas, 
cut his way into the plaza and kill some of the French 
before he (Eojas) could do tlie same with his force, 
The first party to kill a Frenchman in the plaza was to 
take the money. General Cai'avajal actually rode at 
full gallop directly into the plaza at day-break, killed 
several French officers in front of the commander's 
quarters, and rode off again unscathed, winning the 



THE HOME OF THE PALM AND MAGUEY. 447 

money. He looks like a good, plain, konest American 
farmer of forty-five years of age, and is tke last man in 
tke world you would take for tke kero of so many dar- 
ing and recklessly brave exploits. 

We were now in tke maguey or aloe district of Mex- 
ico. Tkis plant does not tkrive well in tke tierj'e ca- 
liente, but at tke elevation of six to ten tkousand feet 
above tke sea, in tkis latitude is seen in its greatest 
perfection. Its kome is tke great valley and central 
plains of Mexico, tkougk it is found as far nortk as 
Arizona. Tke wkole country is covered witk it 
in tkis vicinity. Tke kouses are tkatcked witk its 
leaves ; ro23es, matting, and clotk of a coarse texture 
are made from it; in fact, tke common people are 
born, live, and get drunk and die on it in some form. 
Along kere it is less used for making pulque tkan be- 
tween Mexico and Puebla, and v^e saw tkousands en 
tkousands of plants witk tke center or flower stalk 
skooting up ready to burst into blossom. Eack stalk 
is about tke size of a common telegrapk pole — per- 
kaps tkree or four feet less in average keigkt — and re- 
sembles — before tke blossoms, kave put fortk — a gigan- 
tic asparagus skoot, in color and form. 

Tke palm, of tke stumpy, wortkless variety known in 
Texas and Arizona as tke " Spanisk bayonet," is found 
kere, covering all tke kill-sides, and scattered along tke 
roads. Tke mountains begin to lose tkeir appearance 
of utter barrenness, and are clotked in dense ckaparal 
or fair-sized juniper, cedar, oak, pine, and cypress trees; 
we were coming witkin tke influence of tke moist air 
of tke Gulf of Mexico. 

Jokn Butler, Mr. Seward's dark servant, never kad 
any patience witk tke Mexican servants witk wkom 



448 



A COLORED GENTLEMAN IN MEXICO. 



lie came in contact, and eacli day's experience in the 
country confirmed his prejudices and deepened liis con- 
viction s. As a 
rule he insisted 
that they were 
bound to under- 
stand English, 
and did under- 
stand it in spite 
of all theii* pro- 
testations. " Here 
Mast you, set this 
trunk right down 
there J tell you, and I want 
you to understand it !" he 
would exclaim. The s e r - 
vants Avould of course com- 
prehend from his gestures 
what he desired to have 
done, and comply with his 
command ; whereupon he would turn to some of the 
party and remark triumphantly : 

" There, cuss their yellow hides, didn't I tell you they 
could understand English if they only had a mind to ?" 
But occasionally he would get hold of a customer 
who would persist in not understanding him, and after 
a little trifling his Christian meekness would give way, 
and his wrath find vent in words, forcible and to the 
point. At a little village where we stopped to- lunch, 
Mr. Seward told him to go and buy a hundred cigars 
for the guard. He started off and soon after, hearing 
high words going on in a wayside shop, I looked in to 
learn the cause of the row. 




^•^^ . __:, 



TliE NliKULE PALM. 



THE RUEAL GUAED OF PUEBLA. 449 

" Here Colonel, come in liere please, and tell tMs 
stupid thing that I want 'em all /" lie exclaimed as he 
caught sight of me. 

" Todos Sen or ? Todos ? " replied the woman at the 
counter, with an expression of anxiety and doubt on her 
face, as she turned appealingly to me. 

" No, cuss you no ! I said all, didn't I ? Don't try 
to run no todos on me ; I want 'em all r shouted John, 
seizing the box and pulling it from her reluctant hand. 
" Blast her, she is trying to retail them to me by the 
todos, when I told her more than forty times over, 
that I wanted 'em all r 

I explained to the irate descendant of Ham, that to- 
dos and all, were synonymous terms in the two lan- 
guages. 

" Then why did'nt she say so at once, and not keep 
me here fooling all day ?" was his emphatic rejoinder 
as he threw down the two dollars demanded and left the 
shop, shaking his head wi'athfully, and evidently more 
disgusted with the country and everything in it than 
ever before. 

We staid over night at Palmar, an old Indian town 
twenty leagues from Puebla, and lodged at a fonda. 
There is nothing at Palmar worth describing — at least 
I saw nothing. 

The splendidly uniformed commander of the Eural 
Guard of Puebla, mounted on a fleet little bay horse, 
all life and fire, with saddle, bridle, stirrups, holsters, 
etc., etc., one mass of beautifully wrought silver, ac- 
companied us from Puebla to Orizaba. At intervals 
of about twenty miles, the guard of twenty-five to fifty 
men, all similarly mounted and presenting a magnifi- 
cent appearance as they dashed along at full speed by 
29 



450 A CHANGE OF SCENE. 

the side of tlie coach, were changed ; but this officer 
rode with us all the way, his fiery, little steed never 
flagging or halting to rest for a moment from morning 
to night. The road was fearfully dusty, and the coach 
mules, coach- wheels, and the horses of the guard, kept 
us in such a cloud of the sacred soil all the way, that 
no single individual was recognizable after we had gone 
a mile or two. 

I wish I could present my readers with a picture of 
that peculiar and characteristic cortege, as we swept 
along the road from Puebla to Orizaba. Every color 
of the rainbow flashed in the costumes of the guard or 
the trappings of the horses. The men were wrapped 
to the eyes in scarfs and serapes to guard their faces 
and throats from the — to them — extreme cold, though 
we found it too warm to wear overcoats when sitting 
still, in the open coach. All the natives of this country 
thus protect themselves against the air, even in the 
warmest seasons, and the women you meet on the road 
have their faces, in most cases, all covered except the 
eyes, with their blue or black reborns. 

We left Palmar at 8 a. m., December 24th, for Ori- 
zaba, having only sixteen Spanish leagues to go. For 
the first six leagues the country was dusty, dry as the 
Californias during the dry season, and uninteresting- 
Then all in an instant the scene changed as if by magic. 
At a sharp turn in the road we came upon the brink of 
a great canon, like that of the American River above 
Colfax on the Central Pacific Railway in California. 
The sides of the canon were wooded and green, and 
very precipitous. Do-\\ti at the bottom of this canon, 
from twelve hundred to eighteen hundred feet below 
us, we could see many great cotton-laden wagons drawn 
by twenty to thirty mules each, coming up from Vera 



THE CUMBRES WONDERFUL SCENERY. 451 

Cruz, the weary animals straining every nerve to pull 
the heavy loads up the zigzag road which winds like a 
serpent up the almost perpendicular face of the moun- 
tain. 

We stood at last, at the dividing line between the 
OTeat Central Plateau or elevated Table Land of Mex- 
ico and the Tierra Caliente of the Gulf coast. The 
gay cavalcade of horsemen who formed our escort, 
dashed down the steep declivity at a gallop, and the 
coach, with breaks hard set, went down with a speed 
like that of a railway train, turning the sharp angles 
of the road without an instant's slackening up, and 
rocking and swaying like a ship in a storm until we 
were at the bottom. We congratulated ourselves on the 
experience, and all agreed that we had never seen any- 
thing finer, or enjoyed a more exhilarating ride in our 
lives. 

A few minute's pause to rest our panting animals, 
and then we ascended a little hill, and instead of find- 
ing ourselves in an open plain as we had anticipated, 
looked down on another and greater canon, which by 
its size made the first seem a mere bagatelle, dwarfed 
the great Barranca of Beltran by comparison, and 
would even challenge and win admiration, side by side 
with the Grreat Yosemite, the wonder of the world in 
our day and generation. 

Slope back the walls of rock which form the sides, 
of the Yosemite, so as to make them a little less than: 
perpendicular, clothe them with low, green chaparral, 
to hide the blue-grey stone, plant a little village with; 
an old white church like that in the " Heart of the 
Andes," in the center of the narrow, green valley 
where Hutchings' house stands, and look down on the 
picture from Inspiration Point, and you have the greater 



452 DESCENT INTO THE TIERRA CALIENTE. 

of Las Gumlres^ as we looked down into it on that 
bright, sunny afternoon of the 24th of December, 1869. 
By Heaven ! it was a sight worth coming all these 
thousands of miles by sea and land, to look ujDon ! 

Away we went again, down, down, down, as the eagle 
fixes his wings and glides swiftly from his airy height 
in the mountains into the valley below. In half an hour 
more all had changed around us, and we stood again 
amid the scenes and surrounded by the rankly luxuri- 
ant vegetation of the tropics. We had descended six 
thousand feet within ten miles, and the land of the 
aloe and maize was behind us. Around us was the 
banana, the orans^e, sugar-cane and coffee, and the thou- 
sand glorious flowers of the tropics, high mountains — ■ 
green-clad and glorious — on either hand, and before us, 
Orizaba in all his unspeakable majesty. 

Through the green valley, skirted with Indian vil- 
lages of low cone-thatched and open-sided huts, we drove 
at full Sliced for an hour, and then halted at a village 
a league only from the quaint old city of Orizaba, 
where we found carriages in waiting, and the authorities 
standing ready to receive Mr. Seward and escort him 
to our lodgings in the town, as the guest of the State 
of Vera Cruz within whose boundaries we had just en- 
tered. 



CHAPTER XX. 

OEIZABA— THE GKEAT COITDUCTA. 

ORIZABA is one of tlie most curious old towns 
wliicli we visited in Mexico. It more resembles 
Colima in its surroundings tlian any other, but tlie 
growth of tropical vegetation in tlie immediate vicinity, 
is not to be compared witli tliat which gives such an 
air of oriental luxuriance and magnificence to the City 
of the Sun, out by the Western Ocean, through which 
we made our entrance into Mexico. The heavy, flat or 
arched stone roofs of the central table lands and ele- 
vated plains of Mexico, disappear at the Cumbres, 
and at Orizaba we saw only low- walled buildings, for 
the most part but one story in height, with wide pro- 
jecting eaves, and pitching roofs covered with the 
same old fashioned red tiles which the Spaniards placed 
there three hundred and forty years ago. 

Mr. Seward's party were quartered in the most com- 
fortable manner, in one of the few two-story houses in 
the city, which was owned by a young physician, Dr. 
Talivera, and from our windows we looked down upon 
the streets of the greater portion of the town. The 
streets are wide, and tolerably straight, and paved with 
lava. The gutters are in the middle of the street, and 
the sidewalks are mere banquettes, about three feet — 
rarely four feet — in width, hardly wide enough for two 
persons to walk abreast. Grass fresh and green — 



454 GRASS-GROWN STREETS. 

thougli not tall I must admit — ^grows, more or less, in 
all the streets, and water-cresses are found along the 
margins of the little streams of fresh water which flow 
through the gutters in the center. 

Off the main street, through which the diligencia 
passes twice or thrice a day, plying between the rail- 
way station at Paso del Macho, the present western ter 
minus of the Eastern section, and Puebla, the present 
eastern terminus of the Western section which comes 
down from Mexico, one hardly ever sees a carriage of 
any kind, unless it be a heavy mule wagon, loaded with 
cotton, or a wooden- wheeled ox-caii; lumbering slowly 
and painfully along. We found one street which ap- 
peared to be considerably traveled, so much so that Mr. 
Frederick Seward started off in an enthusiastic manner, 
to see where it led to, and ascertain the cause of its un- 
usually lively character: it led to the cemetery, and 
noAvhere else, as I am an honest and conscientious 
man. 

The prospect of the railway bemg finished from Vera 
Cruz to Orizaba — the name "of the city is always pro- 
nounced as if spelled Orizava, (i. e. 0-re-zah-vah) with 
the accent on the last syllable but one — during the 
Empire, infused a little life into the town, and a very 
good sized " Hotel de la Diligencias " was erected and 
opened ; but the work was suspended when the Em- 
pire went down, and for a long time all life appeared 
to be dying out. The work has been resumed with 
some energy, and the grading of the sixteen leagues 
between Orizaba and Paso del Maclio^ and up the 
mountain side around the Cumbres to the great plain 
above on which Puebla is situated, was so well ad- 
vanced as to ensure its completion at an early day, and 



THE tNDIAlf PACKEES AGAT]Sr. 455 

the people were again looking forward with hope to 
the fature. Nevertheless, we found the town as quiet 
as a well-regulated cemetery, and saw no sign of life, 
such as would be found in an American city. 

The mists from the Gulf of Mexico come up here al- 
most daily, and it rains, more or less, nearly every week 
in the year. The atmosphere is of course very damp, 
and fevers are quite prevalent and severe. 

Most of the fr'eight between the end of the two sec- 
tions of the railway, is packed through the Cumbres^ 
and over the dusty plains to Puebla, or vice versa, upon 
mule backs; but all the vegetables, charcoal, country 
produce, earthenware, etc., etc., is still packed into this, 
as other towns, on the backs of stalwart male and female 
Indians. 

It is wonderful how much these Indians will carry 
on theii' backs at a dog-trot, and how cheaply they will 
carry it. If they have to transport a given amount of 
freight for twenty miles, even right alongside the rail- 
way all the way, they never think of putting it upon 
the cars, but divide it up into three or four hundred 
pound packages, get it upon their backs, and go off at 
a pace equal to the average speed of a fast-walking 
horse. 

If they start for a town, with a load of fruit or 
vegetables to be sold in the market, they will not dis- 
pose of it on the way, even if offered double the price 
at which they propose to sell it on the plaza. Like the 
negro, who when fishing for catfish, was seen to catch 
a fine, large pickerel, deliberately take him off the hook, 
and throw him out into the stream as far as his strength 
would enable him to hurl him, and who, in answer to 
an inquiry as to his reason for so doing, replied : 



456 TAKING IN BALLAST. 

" I'se fisliin' for catfisli I is, an' when I fishes for cats 
I wants cats, an' dont want no pickerel to come foolin' 
aroun' my hook ! " they will do just what they started 
out for, or die on the way. They are in no hurry to 
get back, any way ; and the scene in the plaza varies, 
not unpleasantly for them, the dull monotony of the 
daily round of their quiet, uneventful lives. 

Jokes are played off by travelers, on the habits and 
customs of all people, and all countries. I had often 
heard an assertion made in regard to these Indian pack- 
ers returning from market, which I regarded as one of 
these traveler's jokes ; but an American citizen, who 
has been engaged in Mexico as a railway builder, and 
has brought all the energies of a giant mind to bear 
upon the subject, told me at Orizaba that it is an abso- 
lute fact, that they are so accustomed to carrying heavy 
loads, that the moment the weight is off their shoulders 
they lose their traction, so to speak, cannot get a good 
hold upon the ground with their toes, and are as thor- 
oughly " at sea," as a sailor on horseback. If they can- 
not find anything in the city to pack back to their 
homes, they will put a few chunks of lava, or boulders 
into their baskets, to ballast them and give them a trac- 
tion, and start off, dissatisfied, but proudly conscious of 
having done the best that could be done under the dis- 
advantageous circumstances of the case. A less specu- 
lative and more matter-of fact people I never saw in my 
life. 

There is a fine, large cotton mill with two thousand 
spindles, and a large paper mill with American ma- 
chinery — brought out and erected by Mr. Kichard G. 
Ashby, from Massachusetts — located near the city. 
The water-power is abundant, and labor cheap, but the 



BATTLE-BOABEED CHUEOHES. 



457 



higli price of raw cotton, tlie depressed state of trade, 
and an overstocked market, render all hope of profit 
from the working of tlie cotton factory out of tlie ques- 
tion, at present. Tke cotton mill was not running, but 
it was proposed to start it up again as an experiment, 
soon, and run it for a skort time at least. The paper 
mill is kept running at a moderate profit. 

The city stands in a narrow, but beautiful and very 
fertile valley, with towering, green, forest-clad moun- 
tains all around, and Orizaba, snow-crowned and glori- 
ous, looks down upon it. There may be eighteen thou- 
sand to twenty thousand people in the city, all told, of 
whom a large number are engaged in trade or in wait- 
ing for trade to come to them ; I saw plenty of shops 
and stores, but few buyers for the wares exposed. 

On the hill above the city, the French and Mexicans 
had a fight by night, the latter being surprised, panic- 
stricken, and routed, almost in a moment ; they did 
better later in the war. My window faced a fine old 
church, in the front wall of which I counted a dozen 
cannon balls, and the tower appeared to have been oc- 
cupied by sharp-shooters who were receiving like atten- 
tions from the opposing party, as it was pitted all over 
with marks of musket-balls, as if it had the small pox. 
I asked a man who stood in front of it, when and how 
the ball and bullet marks came there. He said, with a 
grim humor, that he did not remember ; it was el costum- 
hre del pais, (the custom of the coimtry) and might have 
been done at any time within the last fifty years. God 
grant that it may be the custom of the country no 
longer, and that Orizaba and all Mexico may have seen 
the last of such scenes ! 

The French and mercenary troops in the employ of 



458 OUTRAGES COMMITTED BY MAXIMILIAJf's TROOPS. 

Maximilian, committed the most terrible outrages in the 
State of Vera Cruz in the vicinity of Orizal)a. Whole 
villages were depopulated, or nearly so, and peaceable, 
unoffending citizens, shot down in cold blood from mere 
devilishness, by the Turcos and other trooi)s. One 
Colonel Dupin was among the worst of the leaders who 
were concerned in the perpetration of these wholesale 
massacres. His motto was, " kill every man who wears 
leather breeches." As four-fifths of the common people 
of Mexico, wear leather breeches, when they wear any 
at all, it is evident that the proclamation of such a 
policy was equivalent to inaugurating a reign of terror, 
and a war of utter extermination. 

No man was safe who attempted to pass over the 
roads of the state, unless he was in the uniform of the 
imperial army, and the residents of the most retired 
hamlets knew not at what moment a force of the im- 
ported cut-throats might be turned loose upon them, to 
kill, ravish, burn, and destroy at will. In the city of 
Orizaba, Avomen were brought into the French camp and 
so maltreated by the Turcos that they died on the spot. 
Language is powerless to depict the horrors of that 
time. Dupin was, with all his infernal brutality, a man 
of courage, and repeatedly cut his way through the 
enemy when surrounded by a numerically superior 
force ; but he was corralled and killed at last. 

A similar character, a French colonel, met his fate in 
Durango during the occupation of that State. His 
trooj)S caught a Mexican of&cer, and by his direction, 
shot him down in front of his own door, before the 
eyes of his young and lovely wife. To his astonish- 
ment the bereaved wife made no outcry, and did not 
reproach him for the murder. A few days later he 



A woman's EEVEISTGE. 459 

met tlie beautiful woman at a party and was intro- 
duced. She took the matter so coolly that he inquired 
how it could be, and she replied that her husband was 
a brute ; that she had never loved nor cared for him, 
and that she was glad when justice overtook him at last. 
An intimacy sprang up between them, and after some 
weeks the French colonel who had made her a widow, 
obtained her reluctant consent to visit her on a certain 
evening at her own apartments. 

The meeting was tender and affectionate on both 
sides, and the Frenchman was delighted beyond words. 
The lady urged him to join with her in a glass of wine, 
and he, nothing loth, consented. After he had drank 
she stepped out of the room, and closing the heavy 
door between them, locked it in an instant and then 
called out to him : 

" Colonel : you murdered my husband before my 
eyes ! Your time has come now. That wine was pois- 
oned, and in five minutes you will be a dead man ! I 
have waited long for this ; how do you like it ?" 

He fell, striving vainly to escape from the room, and 
expired in horrible agony. But her words had been 
overheard by a servant, who betrayed her, and she was 
condemned to death for the murder. She went to her 
execution with a smile of satisfaction on her face? and 
died glorying in what she had done. 

It was Christmas Eve when we entered Orizaba, and 
all the bells were ringing, and they rung nearly all the 
time we were there. I rather liked it after I got used 
to it, but it was a little rough at first. The Christmas 
festivities are kept up in Orizaba for something like a 
month, and are mainly of two kinds. Those within 
the churches should take precedence of course. 



400 CUEIOUS CUM6TMAS FESTIVITIES. 

A part of our party attended tlie midniglit mass on 
the " Buena Noclie," or niglit before Christmas, and 
saw the procession of the wise men of the East enter 
in search of the new-born Christ, while kneeling thou- 
sands looked on in admiration, and repeated the pray- 
ers for the occasion. The music was fine, the singing 
good, and the spectacle altogether a beautiful and im- 
posing one. 

On Sunday I went to the cathedral with two lady 
friends, one who went to pray with a simple, child-like 
faith, for the loved jDarents, sisters, brothers and friends 
she was leaving behind her in the home of her youth ; 
and one of another faith, a happy young wife, who went 
with her, only to watch over her as is the custom of the 
country. I stopped at the door while they went in. 
My married friend wore a fashionable hat upon her 
head, and did not conform to the usages of the place, 
but stood erect, by the wall. These facts drew the at- 
tention of some of the worshipers, and one of them 
a23j)roaching her said reproachfally, but not exactly 
threateningly, and a|)parently more in sorrow than in 
anger, " I see that you are a devil !" whereupon, she 
came out at once, and waited by the door, until the 
young gii'l, with a face radiant with the j)leasure which 
comes from the consciousness of duty well performed, 
arose from her knees and came forth to meet us. 

A few years since it would not have been safe for a 
Protestant woman, with her head covered with a hat, 
to have been seen in that place, but now the case is 
different. There is some trace of the old bigotry to be 
seen among the lower classes still, but its fire is fast 
dying out in every part of Mexico. 

On Sunday niglit we went to the theater, where 



PLAYII^G THE DEVIL. 461 

a grand sacred drama was being performed by a 
native company. Tbe subject was tbe birtb of Our 
Savior, and tlie scenes were laid in Heaven, on Earth, 
and in Hell. The play opened with a vivid represen- 
tation of the commotion in the latter place, on the 
announcement being made that the Savior of mankind 
was about to be born. They could not raise the devil 
in better shape in the City Hall in New York, and 
they played hell, throughout, with a very strong caste. 
The scenes on earth were not so well done, and Heaven 
did not strike me as particularly attractive. It was all 
worth seeing once in a life-time. They have been some 
twenty years building a new theatre here opposite the 
cathedral, and the walls and roof are now nearly com- 
pleted. The Dutch custom of giving presents to chil- 
dren and fi'iends on Christmas, now so general in the 
United States, appears to be but little observed in any 
part of Mexico. 1 

But the great feature of the Christmas festivities in 
Orizaba is the gambling. The whole plaza in front of 
the Cathedral is given up to it, and all who desire to 
open business, are licensed by the city. Thitherward 
the greatest crowds were tending on Christmas Eve, 
and I went with the majority. Along one entire side 
of the plaza is a row of booths devoted to roulette^ 
played with French machines, and, apparently, " on the 
square." Crowds of all ages, colors, and conditions, 
were around the tables, and business apj)eared to be 
brisk. The banks generally had a goodly sum in 
silver dollars, halves, quarters, rials and medios in sight, 
but no gold. The bets were mostly small — few exceed- 
ing a dollar — and many being but one rial or a medio 
each. "When I placed a dollar on the red as an experi- 



4G3 A WHOLE POPULATION GAMBLINO. 

ment, won, and doubled it and won again, the crowd 
in front fell back respectfully, and I liad the game all 
to myself until I was a dozen dollars ahead, and con- 
cluding the game too uncertain, bid the dealer good- 
night, received a courteous good-night in turn, and 
moved on. The poor people appear to play right on, 
as long as they have a dime left, and of coui'se the 
bank comes out ahead in the long run. 

Farther up there is a large booth in which quino is 
played, for fancy articles, china ware, etc., etc., the cost 
of a card being six and one-fourth cents, or four for 
twenty-five cents. I did not know the game, but Col. 
Green acted as my padrino, and in half an hour I was 
the happy possessor of seven sets of fancy china cups 
and saucers, with two servers to match, all at an out- 
lay of only one dollar and a quarter. I regret to be 
compelled to add that I offered them for one dollar — 
they were valued at seven — and got no bidder among 
my companions ; but I made a family of little children 
happy with them, and felt that I had got more than the 
worth of my money, after all. 

Chuck-a-luck games ran down the center of the 
plaza; monte, faro^ etc., etc., were scattered about — in 
the minority, and not well patronized — and the side 
opposite the roulette booths, is covered with a great shed 
capable of seating one thousand or fifteen hundred 
people, which is devoted exclusively to quino, played 
for money. The cards or tickets, are pasted down 
upon the tables and must number at least one thousand 
all told. Each player is provided with a handful of 
corn with which to keep the game as the numbers, 
drawn ont by the dealer are called, and as tast as one 
game is finished — it takes about three minutes — the 



STOICAL WnOTEES AND LOSEES. 463 

collectors go around and collect in tlie rials for a new 
one. Each game costs eacli player a rial^ or two rials 
if it is a " double up," and tlie bank gets nothing but 
a percentage on tlie amount paid in, for doing tlie busi- 
ness. This place is filled every night, and much of the 
day, by people of all classes ; ladies and gentlemen of 
the best families making little parties at the tables, and 
enjoying the sport as heartily as anybody. I went 
there with a party of ladies and gentlemen, played 
half a dozen games without winning one, then went to 
a roulette table, bet twice on the red and twice on the 
black, won all four bets, and quit gambling. It is not 
a first-rate business to follow, even in Mexico, where it 
is regarded, generally, as quite legitimate, and in a 
very different light from that in which we see it in the 
United States. 

The most singular thing about this wholesale gam- 
bling is the perfect good order which prevails in the 
crowd. I did not see a drunken man, nor hear an angry 
word or an oath among all the thousands of players. 
When you remember, that to four-fifths of these j^lay- 
ers the loss of a single dollar is of greater moment 
than the loss of one hundred to the averaw American 
patron of the gaming table, you can readily understand 
what an event it is in their lives. Yet courtesy and for- 
bearance are displayed upon all sides, and the losers never 
give vent to audible grumbling, while the winners — 
what there are of them — pocket their gains mthout a 
sign of exultation. Men who have lost their last medio 
will sit down by your side, and keep the account of the 
game for you, condoling vnth you when you lose, and 
congratulating you when you win, with as much earnest- 
ness as if they had knovm you for years. 



464 THE FALLS OF THE EINCON GRANDE. 

In many cities of Mexico gambling is now prohib- 
ited, and, ojs with us, can only be carried on by stealth ; 
but in the smaller towns throughout the country, it is 
not exactly the vice but the prevailing misfortune of 
the people. 

Procuring saddle-horses in Orizaba, a number of our 
party with several gentlemen fi'om the city, rode out 
through fine fields of sugar-cane and orange and ban- 
ana ^plantations, a distance of three miles to the Falls 
of the Eincon Grande. The Kio de Agua Blanco, a 
deep, swift-running, pure, fresh-water stream, comes 
rushing, like the Truckee in Nevada, down from the 
mountains on the eastward of the city, running most of 
the distance through a deep and very picturesque 
caiion. 

At the point where the falls commence, the stream 
divides, one half running on down the canon, and the 
other running out on the top of the mesa, or table-rock 
of lava, which forms one side of the ravine, then turn- 
ing, and falling in many smaller streams over the pre- 
cipitous face of the cliff into the bottom of the canon, 
and in a cloud of spray, mingling with the waters of 
the main stream below. 

Tlie perpendicular fall, itself, cannot exceed fifty feet 
at this point, but in outline it is a miniature Niagara, 
and the wealth of tropical verdure and flowers which 
surround it, as the gold and enamel surround the dia- 
mond when it leaves the cunning hand of the jeweler, 
makes it a gem of exquisite beauty, such as can never 
be seen in colder climes than this. The trees all around 
are covered with long, grey moss, and numberless para- 
sites, all of which bear gorgeous-colored flowers. Some 
of these flowers are in shape like an ear of corn, six to 



A TROPICAL PAEADISE. 465 

eight inclies in length, of tlie most brilliant scarlet, and 
set in a cup of bright green leaves, tlie whole looking 
more like skillful wax- work, than the work of nature. 

All around the falls the foliage and shrubbery is so 
dense as to preclude walking, except in narrow foot- 
paths cut for the purpose, and at the end of the year, 
when everything in the far North is buried in the 
snows of winter, all is as green, and red, and gay-col- 
ored and beautiful as in midsummer. In this tropical 
paradise, only man and his works pass away ; the glory 
of Nature is eternal and unchanging : " In Summer and 
in Winter shall it be." 

The rushing waters come down to the edge of the 
precipice through a rank growth of great canes, which 
swing and sway with the pressure of the current, like 
willows by our northern rivers when swept by the 
winds of summer. Clinging to the jagged lava rocks 
which divide the stream above the falls, wherever there 
is a handful of earth to nourish them, are great banana 
trees, with broad leaves like the banners of an army of 
giants, waving in the soft breeze of the South. All the 
face of the rock between the streams of falling water 
is covered with clinging plants and flowering shrubs, 
and one rock, shaped like a cross, which projected from 
the center out into the falling spray, was enwreathed; 
with flowers like an artificial garland, as if they hadi 
been hung there by some dear woman's hand, to mark: 
the last resting place of the loved and lost. 

We went down by a winding pathway to the bottom 
of the canon, opposite the fall, and sitting beneath the 
broad-spreading trees, gazed upon the scene until it&' 
beauty was indelibly impressed upon our minds, to be 
treasured up in memory forever ; then gathered some 
30 



466 VISIT TO A SUGAK KANCH. 

sweet wild-flowers, to be pressed and carried away as 
souvenirs for our friends in tlie North, and re-mounting 
oui* horses, galloped towards the city. 

On our way back we tui-ned off from our road, and 
visited the great sugar ranch of San Antonio. The Jia- 
cienda stands in a narrow canon through which runs a 
small stream of pure water, and is surrounded by wide 
fields of luxuriant and rich-juiced cane, running up to 
the suburbs of the city. The sugar works are run by 
water-power, and though the crusher is of American 
make, all the other machinery and appliances are of the 
rudest and most primitive character. 

The cane-juice is boiled in great, open, copper kettles 
set in brick-work, and is bailed from one to another un- 
til the last is reached, by naked-footed men, whose skin 
appears to be so indurated as to resist the action of the 
scalding fluid as thoroughly as the metal itseK The 
sugar, in its crude state, is placed in very large earthen 
moulds, wide at the top, and running to a point at the 
bottom, and covered with a peculiar clay made into a 
thin paste, which filtering through it, bleaches the mass 
to a pale brown color. 

The sugar is sweet, and for coffee, fully equal to the 
article of a pale yellow hue called " coffee sugar " in the 
United States. This is the common product of the su- 
gar haciendas of Mexico, and the process is that in gen- 
eral use all over the Kepublic from the Pacific to the 
Atlantic. "With railways, a good and liberal system of 
revenue laws, and a few years of uninternipted peace, 
Mexico could supply the United States, Canada, and 
much of Europe, with all the sugar required, and con- 
trol the market of the world. 

The coffee tree flourishes in the vicinity of Orizaba 



COFFEE PLANTATIOlSrS BESOUECES OF MEXICO. 467 

in all possible luxuriance, and tlie product of the but 
indifferently tilled plantations between this point and 
Paso del Macho, is sufficient to supply the demand for a 
considerable extent of country. Mexico produces nearly, 
or quite, enough coffee for home consumption, and un- 
der more favorable conditions of society could furnish 
in a short time, an almost unlimited quantity for ex- 
port. To sum up in a word, the Eepublic of Mexico 
has within her limits resources of wealth and comfort 
unbounded, and the day will come— I trust it may not 
be far distant— when she will be regarded, with reason, 
as the Paradise of the world. 

In Mexico, there are no great Express Companies to 
transport specie cheaply and quickly through the coun- 
try, as in the United States ; and as the roads swarm 
with bands of robbers, ffom one end of the Eepublic 
to the other, when there is a chance for plunder offered, 
it follows, that the safety of the silver and gold from 
the mines of the interior, on its way to the coast, be- 
comes a matter of such importance that the Government 
is compelled to assume the responsibility of providing 
for it. Accordingly, the troops are always held ready 
to escort it from point to point, and protect it, at any 
risk, from attack and plunder. 

Notice is given, of the time a " conducta " will leave 
Guanajuato, San Luis Potosi, or other point for Mexico, 
and from Mexico for Vera Cruz, and shippers avail 
themselves of the opportunity offered, to forward the 
millions of hard dollars which accumulate in a few 
weeks or months at the center of one of the great mi- 
ning districts, willingly paying the tax imposed in order 
to secure the protection of the Government troops ; this 
protection is not always effectual, as recent events de- 



468 THE GREAT CONDUCTA. 

monstrate that the escort itself, is, sometimes, not 
wholly trustworthy and incorruptible. When we were 
journeying towards the coast, the state of affairs along 
the route gave additional interest to the movements of 
the conductas. 

For some weeks, the departure of the coiiducta from 
Mexico with treasure for Europe and the United States, 
had been the theme of much conversation all along the 
road. It was known that the pronunciados in the State 
of Puebla had their eyes upon this conducta, and would 
certainly attack it if they found themselves strong 
enough, or the guard weak enough, to warrant them in 
the attempt. Then it was further known, that Gen. 
Negrete had been in Mexico in disguise, and it was 
feared that his clandestine visit had some connection 
with a project to attack this conducta ; and therefore 
the Government had made extraordinary arrangements 
for its protection. 

From the hour of its starting from the Capital, down 
to the end of the trip, the bulletin-board at the Lonja 
at Vera Cruz, had shown the daily progress of the con- 
ducta, adding " all safe " at each new announcement. 
The precautions taken had proved all-sufficient, and the 
most dangerous portion of the road was passed or 
would be passed in a day or two. The silver was ex- 
pected to reach Vera Cruz in season for the American 
steamer Cleopatra on the 10th of January. 

On Monday, January 3d, the long looked for con- 
ducta came filing into the City of Orizaba, and the 
whole of the irregular, wide, main street of the town 
was filled with it. There were two million seven hun- 
dred thousand dollars in this conducta, and the entire 
train resembled a division of a grand army in appear- 



ITS ENCAMPMENT AT ORIZABA. 469 

ance. There were forty-six carts, eacli drawn by four- 
teen to eighteen mules and loaded with o\er sixty 
thousand dollars in specie, and pack-animals and carts 
for the baggage of the escort, and the escort itself con- 
sisted of eight hundi^ed men of all anns, viz . five hun- 
dred picked infantry, including two companies of Zajpo- 
dores from the capital, under the immediate command 
of Major Rocha, nearly three hundred cavalry, and a 
detachment of artillery with two field -pieces, all under 
the command of Colonel Lerya of the regular army of 
Mexico. 

The conducta did not take the railway, but marched 
down the old stage road, via Puebla, and came on, di- 
rect, toward Vera Cruz. Their encampment in the 
streets of Orizaba presented one of the most novel and 
interesting spectacles imaginable. Each cart had its 
separate guard, and the whole a general one, which was 
changed fi^om hour to hour, day and night, with mili- 
tary precision ; and whether on the march or in camp, 
on the wild mountains or in a quiet city like Orizaba, 
the care and watchfulness was never for a moment re- 
laxed. I have already described the manner of the 
marching of a detachment of Mexican troops as we 
saw it between Colima and Guadalajara ; but this was 
a repetition of that scene on a grander and more ex- 
tended scale. 

Of course the conducta was the grand feature of the 
day, and caused a great excitement, and an. unwonted 
appearance of life in the streets of Orizaba. At night 
the spectacle, when the troops were preparing their 
suppers and making ready for the night, was more wild 
and picturesque than during the day. 

In the morning, the long train of treasure-laden carts. 



470 DEI'AllTUKE FKOM 0RIZA13A. 

wifh its advance-guard, rear-guard, and immediate es- 
cort was in motion at an early liour, the trumpets and 
kettle-drums of the different corps filling the air with 
the harsh, discordant music, even before day-break, and 
making sleep at our quarters impossible. 

Mr. Seward's party were to have been off for Paso 
del Macho, at 5 o'clock a. w., to meet the special train 
formerly kej^t for the special use of Maximilian and his 
family, and still known as "the Imperial Train," sent 
up from Vera Cruz, for the occasion ; but owing to 
bungling mismanagement they were delayed until after 
7 o'clock, and, of course, compelled to crowd on all 
speed to make up for lost time. The long train of the 
conducta was in motion, taking up all the highway, but 
when word was sent that Mr. Seward was at the rear, 
it halted and made room for the coach to pass, and the 
officers and men of each corps presented arms as he 
went by. 

I went down to Vera Cruz ahead of the conducta, 
passing it on the way, and so had an opportunity of 
seeing it amve at its destination and witnessing the 
final scene. The dangerous Pass of the Chiquihuite 
having been made successfally, on arriving at Paso del 
Macho — the western end of the Vera Cruz section of the 
railway — the cavalry and artillery were dismissed, and 
the specie transferred to the cars — a special having been 
provided — and thence went on to Vera Cruz under es- 
cort of the infantry only. The two million seven hun- 
dred thousand dollars in specie was all packed in coarse 
sacks of maguey fibre, each sack holding three thousand 
dollars, and it required twelve closed box, freight-cars 
to transport it. 

When the special train arrived at Vera Cruz the cars 



AERIVAL OF THE SPECIE AT VEEA CEUZ. 471 

were run down to tlie Custom House Plaza in front of 
tlie entrance to tlie mole, and tliere tliey remained until 
all the money was shipped on board tlie steamers for 
New York and Europe. Tlie American steamer Cleo- 
patra carried about one million on tlie 1 Otli of January, 
and the French steamer of the 13th, — owing to a quar- 
rel about charges between the owners of the American 
steam line and the shippers, I believe — the remainder. 
Our American steamers ought, in fact, to monopolize 
the specie-carrying trade of Mexico, and could probably 
do so with a little effort. 

While the cars remained in the plaza the troops were 
quartered under 2ipo7'tal in front of the train. A guard 
patrolled on each side of the cars day and night, and a 
soldier with a loaded musket stood on the roof of each 
car all the time. The point is farther commanded by 
the guns of San Juan de Ulloa, and the treasure was 
therefore as safe as gunpowder, balls, and bayonets could 
make it. 

It was, of course, not absolutely necessary to take 
such extraordinary precautions for the pi'otection of 
this special conducta in Vera Cruz where all was then 
quiet ; but it is the custom of the Government to re- 
quire the officers in charge of the escort to see that dis- 
cipline is never relaxed for a moment, and that all the 
regulations are carried out to the letter, until the treas- 
ui'e is delivered to consignees in the city, or safely on 
board the steamers, and then responsibility ceases. 

The Government gets eight per cent, on every dollar 

amounting to two hundred and sixteen thousand dol- 
lars on this conducta alone — when it passes through the 
Custom- House gateway, as export duty, and is bound to 
afford full protection to the owners. 



472 THE INDIAN SPECIE-COUNTERS. 

Much of the silver is delivered to the consignees at 
their counting houses in the city, and there recounted, 
and repacked in smaller bags containing but one thou- 
sand dollars each. I saw in the house of Schliden & 
Co., one day, a party of natives at work counting and 
repacking a half million of these bright new dollars. 
They get twelve and a half cents for each one thousand 
dollars which they count and sew ujd in the new bags, 
and are very expert in detecting defective or base coin. 
It is said that when they pour a bag of these dollars 
upon the table, they will decide in an instant whether 
they are of the coinage of Zacatecas, Guanajuato, or 
Mexico, by the difference in the ring of each, though it 
is wholly imperceptible to the ear of the uninitiated. 
If the bags are found short the deficit is charged to the 
shippers at Mexico or Guanajuato ; if in excess — and 
this is not uncommon — the overplus is credited to the 
shippers. 

I have never seen any specie-counters or experts, who 
could beat these uneducated Indian-blooded Veracruz- 
anos, save the Chinese experts, who do the same busi- 
ness for the banks in San Francisco, and who can dis- 
count the world beyond a doubt. 

The scene reminded me of an incident which oc- 
curred at the city of Mexico when Gen. Scott entered 
the capital in triumph. A detachment of Harney's 
draeoons were quartered in the Palacio Nacional, and 
before order was fully restored they broke open a room 
in the Treasury department in which they found a large 
number of Mexican dollars— fourteen or sixteen large 
sacks, if memory serves me. 

In an instant they went for the coin, and a general 
scramble took place. One would get a sack upon his 



EEMTPriSOENCE OF THE MEXICAN WAE. 473 

shoulder, wlien another would slash it open with a 
bowie-knife or sword, and the precious pesos would 
pour down in a shower upon the floor. Another would 
fill a haversack with them, only to meet with the same 
treatment. At last they got the doors closed and came 
to an understanding. All the coin was piled down on 
the floor, and a fair division made. Then each took his 
share of the plunder and concealed it around his quar- 
ters as best he might. Harney was unable to under- 
stand for the time, how it was that this party kept so 
remarkably quiet and appeared so well satisfied, but af- 
ter a while the secret leaked out. 

A dragoon bought something on the streets, and of- 
fered a dollar in payment. The seller — a Mexican of 
course — touched the coin to his teeth, and returned it 
respectfully, with the single remark, " Cobre Seiior !" 
Another was offered, and " Cobre Seuor !" was still the 
cry. Another, and another, and still no change. The 
dragoon smelled a rat, and returned, a sadder and a 
wiser man, to his quarters. Each of the fortune-finders 
by himself, tried to buy something, sooner or later, and 
met with the same discoui'aging remark. 

It turned out that the coin was the plunder of an 
unauthorized private mint — in fact a bogus-money fac- 
tory — which had been pounced upon by the Govern- 
ment, and there was not a single dollars worth of gen- 
uine silver in the entire pile. A cheaper looking lot of 
disappointed speculators never congregated in a " played 
out" Western town, or skedaddled from a base metal 
camp in one of the Pacific Coast mining districts, than 
was seen that night among Uncle Sam's boys in the 
" Palace of the Montezumas." 



CHAPTER XXI/ 

YEEA CRUZ. 

ny yrK. SEWARD, worn out by the fatigues of tlie 
-^-^ long journey from Manzanillo to tlie Gulf Coast, 
remained resting at Orizaba until Tuesday, January 
4tli being for the &st time in three months in a posi- 
tion to enjoy a little undisturbed quiet. 

During his stay he ascended the famous /Sierra de 
Borregas — or mountains of the Sheep — which overlook 
the city. The ascent of from eight hundred to one 
thousand feet perpendicularly, was made on foot, and 
was accomplished by the ex-premier with, apparently, 
as little fatigue as was experienced by any of the party. 

On Sunday, the 2d of January, the party visited the 
Indian village of Jalapena, in a deep and romantic 
gorge or canon in the mountains near the source of the 
Eio Blanco, the stream on which are situated the Falls 
of Rincon Grande, described in the last chapter. The 
inhabitants paid Mr. Seward every possible attention, 
and the visit, though devoid of startling incident, was 
a very pleasant one to the party. 

On the Monday following, a deputation of the sim- 
ple Indians came down to Orizaba, to present Mr. 
Seward with a curiously carved and stained cane, of a 
peculiar wood growing by the banks of the Blanco, 
This cane is of a single piece of wood, and the handle 
represents an eagle's foot with extended talons, very 



THE SCENEEY OF AFRICA. 475 

artistically carved by a native and wholly untutored 
artist. Among the hundreds of presents, many of 
which are very valuable, received by Mr. Seward in 
California and Mexico, I doubt if any will give him 
more pleasure than this. 

I have already described the road from Orizaba to 
Vera Cruz. The Seward party was overtaken a few 
miles below Orizaba, by Joseph Branniff, the railway 
contractor's superintendent, who was going down to 
Paso del Macho, with a light buggy drawn by two 
fast mules. Mr. Seward accepted a seat with Mr. 
BranniiF in this carriage, and they went over the sev- 
enteen leagues at a pace, which, if it did not endanger 
the necks of the party, at least, gave Mr. Seward a 
shaking which he will remember to the end of his life. 

The magnificent scenery of the Chiquihuite Pass 
delighted him more than anything which he had seen 
since the Barranca de Beltran, and so reminded him 
of the scenery of Africa as to cause him to remark, 
that it only wanted a lion or two by the road-side to 
complete the picture, and make the illusion perfect. 
There are plenty of tigers lurking in the chaparral 
along this road, and the number of way-side crosses 
ought to be good evidence that they have a very satis- 
factory substitute for lions. 

The work of constructing the railway at this point is 
truly herculean and reminds one of that upon the Cen- 
tral Pacific Kailroad, where it passes over the summit 
of the Sierra Nevada. It is described as follows, in a 
late number of the Diario Oficial of the City of 
Mexico : 

" After leaving the station of Paso del Macho, the 
road passes, by means of a bridge three hundred feet 



476 RAILWAY BUILDING AT CHIQUIHUITE. 

long and one hundred feet higli, that immense neck of 
laud wliieli separates the base of the first level portion 
of the Cordilleras from the plains of the terra caliente^ 
or the hot country. This bridge, the mason-work of 
Avhich is entirely finished, only lacks the iron floor in 
order to be open to the public. Having passed this 
great work, we arrive, by a series of curves as boldly 
as scientifically run, at the great bridge of San Alejo, 
which is not as high as that of Paso de Macho, but sev- 
eral feet longer. From San Alejo to Chiquihuite there 
is nothing but deep cuts through the solid rock, and 
enormous terrepleins, making the great inequalities of 
that broken ground entirely disappear. Chiquihuite 
Bridge, which is over three hundred feet long, is eleva- 
ted more than one hundred and fifty feet above that 
abyss, where the foaming, cold stream that gives its 
name to this part of the mountain, forever leaps and 
boils. The boldest spirit would not suspect the real 
tours de force conceived in the running of this road ac 
complished by the skill of Mr. Buchanan, and com- 
pleted under the direction of Mr. Brannifi", chief of con- 
struction. ' 

" On leaving the bridge, the road follows the main 
highway for some distance, by a terreplein of sixty feet 
high, supported by a wall ten feet thick, and suddenly, 
as in the shifting of scenes in a theatre, the road runs 
around, the mountain, suspended on its sides. It was 
necessary to cut it through solid rock, of which the 
side of this mountain is composed. The laborers en- 
gaged in this unequal piece of work have to hold on 
to the rocks, and are held up by ropes, which makes 
them resemble, at a distance, bees in a honey-comb. 
The road continues for about one hundred metres along 



AKEIVAL AND EECEPTION AT VERA ORUZ. 477 

that track before it enters the first tunnel of one hun- 
dred and fifty feet in length ; it again re-appears only 
to continue its aerial route, and again disappears in a 
tunnel of three hundred and fifty feet. From this tun- 
nel the road passes over a small iron bridge, raised 
eight hundred feet above the bottom of the ravine." 

At Paso del Macho, the special train was in waiting 
at 2 1-2 p. M., and at 6 p. m., the party was in Vera 
Cruz. The American Consul Mr. Trowbridge, Emilio 
B. Schliden, an American citizen, formerly of Califor- 
nia, now at the head of a large mercantile house there, 
who had placed a beautiful, large house, ready 
furnished, at Mr. Seward's disposal, Mr. Joseph 
Brennon, and a number of other American citizens 
were at the depot, ready to receive him and escort him 
to his home in Vera Cruz. 

The party were hardly settled in the house, when 
the Governor of the State of Vera Cruz, the comman- 
dant of the military forces, the Collector of the Port, 
the officers of the Custom-House and garrison, and other 
Federal and State officials in full uniform, called to 
present their respects, and offer the hospitalities of the 
city and their own services in any manner desired, as 
the hospitalities of Colima and the Eepublic of 
Mexico had been offered on our first landing on the 
soil of the country at Manzanillo, three months before. 
There were no formal speeches made, but the greeting 
was off-hand and cordial, and Mr. Seward, in a brief 
reply, returned thanks for the honor done him. 

The more I saw of this odd, old, and fearfully 
unhealthy city of Vera Cruz at this season of the year, 
the more I was interested 'in it. Its curious old forti- 
fications, dating back to the days of the conquistador ea. 



478 SOUVENIRS OF PAST OONLICTS. 

and now as useless piles of stone, copper, iron, and 
coral as could by any possibility be got together ; its 
mixed and mongrel population; its wide, straight 
streets, paved in the old Spanish style with the gutters 
in the centre ; the old churches and public buildings, 
gray and worn with the storms of centuries and any 
number of sieges and bombardments ; its swarms of 
Zafilotes^ and its hideous and importunate beggars; 
everything, in fact, about the place is interesting. 

At the corners of all the principal streets are hitch- 
ing posts of a novel character : old Spanish, iron guns, 
set in the ground, breech down, and often rusted away 
to such an extent as to be hardly recognizable. I 
would hesitate some time before hitching my horse to 
such a post ; suppose it should happen to go off with him ? 

Many of the buildings still bear the marks of the 
balls and shells thrown into the city by the American 
Army under General Scott ; and I noticed one old 
church which was then partially unroofed, and has 
never been repaired. In walking about the streets 
I frequently saw balls or pieces of exploded shells, 
embedded in the pavement. Many of these were 
thrown into the city by Miramon, in the attempt to 
dislodge Juarez in the early part of 1860 — an attempt 
which was frustrated by the direct interference of the 
American Minister and the American fleet. 

The Zapilotes were my friends; but for them I 
should have had no amusement or occupation for 
hours at a time. 

You should have seen the jolly row I managed to 
kick uj), by throwing a handful of garbage to them 
from a restaurant, and then sending a small dog among 
them, to worry them and make the feathers fly. 



ZAPILOTES. 



479 



Nobody knows where tliey breed, and altbougli inquiry 
has been made on the subject for almost three centuries 
and a half, the matter is still a mystery. One day we 
bought three large sea-shells, each with the original 
inhabitant in it. To get the monster sea-snails to 
come out, it was necessary to suspend them on cords, 
with a good, stout, fish-hook through the head of each. 
Little by little the creature loses his grip, and in about 
forty-eight hours he lets go his hold entirely, and gives 
up the struggle. 

The three lines with the three great pulpy sea-snails 
on the three hooks, got tied together, and fell into the 
street, by accident of course— it is unlawful to kill or 
injure the Zapilote.% and a heavy fine is . inflicted for 
doing so— and soon the Zapilotes had a turn at them. 
Perhaps it was not fan to see three of the great, black, 
awkward fellows fast at once, each going it on his own 
hook as it were ! They have very strong stomachs 
—and well they might considering what they feed 
Tip on — but the strain was more than even they could 
stand, and I am of the opinion, that in every case, at 
least two out of the three contestants got turned 
wi^ong side outwards in the struggle. But it did not 
seem to discourage the rest for a moment ; and for 
auo-ht I know, they are at it yet, each taking a turn at 
the tempting morsels, and getting swindled. They 
seem almost wholly lost to the force of example, and 
like men, must learn, each for himself, by personal 
experience. 

Even our hotel — and it was far the best in the city — 
was interesting as a subject for study. The charges were 
moderate, three dollars and fifty cents per day in coin, 
with wine and early coffee extra — say about five dollars 



480 A LIVELY HOTEL. 

all told, if you are not too extravagant in your tastes. 

Every style of business is carried on in the building. 
There is a store-house, and tailor shop with several 
sewing-machines on the lower floor. Up stairs, the 
office, bar, and billiard room are all one. The best 
rooms in the house extend out over the 'portal^ and are 
light and well ventilated, but not luxuriously furnished. 
I had one of these rooms. The room next me was oc- 
cupied by a party who were playing poker all night for 
big money. 

I was kindly invited to take a hand in this friendly 
little poker game, but being a youth of modest and re- 
tiring turn of mind, reluctantly declined. I thought 
it would break my heart, if I were to go in there and 
win all the money from such gentlemanly, courteous, 
and considerate young men ; at any rate, I never could 
forgive myself for doing it. 

The room next on the other side, was infested by 
some game of which I have no personal knowledge. 
Beyond this, Mr. and Mrs. Brennon were quartered, and 
a young Mexican lady going to the United States oc- 
cupied the next. Adjoining was a faro or monte bank, 
and beyond that two roulette tables running all night. 
In the billiard room they were playing pool for money, 
through nearly the entire twenty-four hours. Business, 
it will be seen, is not entirely dead in Vera Cruz. The 
partitions between the rooms are of rough boards, and 
do not come quite up to the ceiling ; so that the occu- 
pant of each room gets the full benefit of whatever may 
be going on in the next. 

The principal business on the streets seemed to be 
selling lottery tickets in behalf of various useful public 
enterprises. The tickets cost twenty-five to thirty- 



THE CHAESr-GAWG. 481 

seven and one-half cents eacli, and tlie prizes range 
from five to five hundred dollars. I never heard any 
man complain that he had drawn a prize and did not 
get his money ; I think he would run a risk of 
getting it promptly if he ever drew one. I patronized 
" a favor del Telegrafo de Jalacingo a Tampico," to the 
extent of about the cost of a quarter of a mile of the 
line, more or less, and am satisfied that it is indeed " a 
favor " of the company ; it did not come out in my 
favor on a single occasion. They draw every week and 
it appears to pay — the company. 

All the carting which is done in the city is effected 
by mule power. One little mule with a sore back is 
hitched in the shafts of a huge, clumsy, high-wheeled 
wooden cart, and the diiver rides upon another, which 
is slung alongside outside the shafts, and pretends to 
help the load along, as he doubtless does when in a 
tight place and he cannot help it. The arrangement 
is first-rate when it comes to swinging around a corner, 
but on a dii'ect pull it might be improved. All the 
baggage is carried from the wharf or dej)ot to the 
hotels, and vice versa, on the backs or heads of men. 

The chain-gang, not merely in name, but in the good, 
old, southern, European style — is one of the institu- 
tions of Vera Cruz as of most other Mexican cities,, 
and is made quite useful, if not entirely ornamental. 
The gentlemen connected with this branch of the 
public service wear a leathern belt around the waist, 
and a broader band of thick leather around the left 
ankle. Between these « points there is a heavy chain, 
with links each about six inches long. In case of one 
of them being run over by a railway train, or cut into 
by a falling timber, this arrangement prevents the 
31 



482 A PEIVATE QUARREL. 

different parts getting scattered about and lost. For 
convenience they travel two by two, a metallic connec- 
tion enabling them to keep step with militaiy precision. 

I saw about twenty of them at work one day at the 
mole, carrying heavy beams of Spanish cedar — the 
wood from which we make Havana cigar boxes in the 
United States — up into the city. They were guarded 
by a squad of soldiers, with loaded muskets and fixed 
bayonets, who kept them to their work in lively style, 
their chains clinking musically, all the time. By 
accident the sharp edge of a heavy beam came down 
on the sandaled foot of one of the operatives, when 
his great toe-nail o23ened like an alligator's jaws, and 
snapped viciously at the wood. The owner of the toe, 
picked up his end of the beam, and went off with his 
three companions on a dog-trot, seeming oblivious of 
the fact that there had been any quarrel going on. 

Vera Cruz is the most important sea-port of the 
Republic of Mexico, and it may be interesting to the 
outside world to know how its population is made up, 
and what is the mental and moral standing of the 
inhabitants. The followius: fio-ures I take from the 
official census returns made in April, 1869. The returns 
copied are for the Municipality of Vera Cruz, consist- 
ing of the old city within the walls and the district in 
the immediate vicinity, comprising almost as much ter- 
ritory as is included in the Metropolitan District of 
New York. The population of the municipality is as 
follows : 

Males living within the walls, • - - - 5,164 

" " outside ^' . . . 920 

Females " within " - - - - 6,372 



THE PEOPLE OF VEEA CRUZ. 483 

Females living outside tlie walls - - - 1,036 

Males living in the country beyond tlie city, 1,255 

Females " " " " " 1,103 



Total population, 15,850 

The ages of the inhabitants are stated as follows : 

Males under ten years, - - - - 1,810 

Females " " " 1,813 

Males between ten and sixteen years, - - 938 

Females " " u u . . ^^QQg 

Males between sixteen and fifty, " - - 4,157 

Females " " " "... 5,131 

Males over fifty years, . - . - - 434 

Females " " « ..... 565 

EDUCATION. 

Single males able to read and write, - - 2,531 

" " not able " " " - - 3,140 

" females able to " " " .' . . 1,143 

a u ^^^ a u .i u u . _ ^^gg2 

Married men who can read and write, - - 879 

" " who cannot " " " ■ - 540 

" women who can read and write, - - 561 

" " " cannot read and wiite, ■ 887 

"Widowers who can " " " - 129 

" " cannot " " " - 120 

Widows who can " " " - 286 

" " cannot " " " - 982 

Total males able to read and write, * - - 3,539 

" " not " " u a . . 3 OQQ 



484 THEIK RELIGION AND NATION A TJTY. 




Total Females able to read and write, 


. 1,990 


" U ^Q^ u u u u 


6,521 


RELIGION. 




Catholics, 

Protestants, (all foreigners,) .... 


- 15,777 
71 


Jews, ....... 

Mahomedans, ...... 


1 

1 


The nationality of the inhabitants is as follows : 


Mexicans, 


- 14,384 


Spaniards, - 

Cubans, (nearly all political exiles,) 
French, 


736 
242 

218 


Citizens of the United States, . 


108 


Germans, 


68 


Italians, 


37 


English, ....... 


23 


Peruvianos, 


5 


Africans, 


5 


Other or uncertain nationalities, 


24 



The number of persons of all ages who have any 
lucrative and self-sustaining employment is set down 
at 7,407, while those who have no such employment is 
stated at 8,443. 

In making up this list, the soldiers of the gamson, 
the sick in the hospitals, and the civil and military 
prisoners are not included. If they were included the 
disproportion of females to males would be still 
greater. The number of widows and unmarried 
women between sixteen and fifty, tells its own eloquent 



AN UJSTOPULAE INSTITUTION. 485 

story of tlie desolation whidi so many years of civil and 
foreign war liave brought upon the land. The greater 
number of those set down as having no lucrative 
occupation are, of course, women and children, but 
there must be at least fifteen hundred to twenty- 
five hundred adult, able-bodied males included in that 
list. The mole — what the storms have left of that 
costly work of the old Spaniards — swarms with them 
whenever a steamer arrives, and when a train with a 
few passengers comes in they rush up by dozens and 
fifties, to carry your trunk to the hotel on their backs ; 
hacks and baggage wagons there are none in Vera Cruz. 
Marriage is evidently not a popular institution in 
Vera Cruz, and the Church — ^however much it may 
preach against the sin of adultery — certainly in prac- 
tice must be somewhat responsible for it, as its exac- 
tions make it quite difficult for the poor to contract 
marriage. As out of the entire population of fifteen 
thousand eight hundred and fifty souls, all but seventy- 
three are professed Catholics, and as there is no Prot- 
estant or other church organization, save the Catholic, 
in the municipality, the honor or blame of the moral 
condition of society in Vera Cruz belongs, altogeth- 
er, to the Mother Chui'ch. Vera Cruz has more com- 
merce and more travel than any other port of Mex- 
icO; and her population ought to rank higher in the 
scale of enlightenment and prosperity than that of any 
other sea -port town. Though the city is annually 
scourged by the Yellow Fever, or "Vomito," and is 
unhealthy from miasmatic influences all the year 
around, many educated and influential families, native 
and foreign born, reside here, and the circle of really good 
society is much larger than would be supposed from 



486 ARRIVAL OF THE EUJENIA. 

the above figures. Among tlie mercliants there is dis- 
couragement and gloom, and among tlie people at 
large, more of uncertainty as to the future, apathy, or 
actual discontent, than I saw anywhere else in the 
Republic. 

I went down with the crowd one day, to see the ar- 
rival of a coasting steamer — everybody in Vera Cruz 
goes down to the mole to see a steamer, big or little, 
come in. The arrival was the little square-toed side- 
wheeler, Eujenia, from Tlacotalplam — and steamer and 
cargo reminded me, forcibly, of the description of the 
Yankee trading craft which Manyatt in one of his nov- 
els, describes so vividly. I mean the craft he met com- 
ing out of the West Indies, whose caj^tain sold his 
spars to a French privateer, and then sent the English 
privateer into a trap, by telling him that there was but 
one French vessel instead of two, and the force so 
small and unprepared as to make it perfectly safe to at- 
tack them when they were lying at anchor repairing. 
The steamer might possibly be one hundred feet long 
and about half as broad, with a bow so like an old 
fashioned man-of-war's stern, as to make it a matter of 
doubt whether she would travel best " end foremost " or 
" broadside on." 

A motley list of passengers and a mixed cargo ha5. 
been picked up along the coast. The passengers were 
of all colors and nationalities, and from seventy-five to 
one hundred in number. About half, appeared to have 
complexions disastrously affected by coast-fevers and 
malarious diseases. As for the cargo, it comprised a 
little of everything. Crates of live chickens, great 
earthenware jars for holding drinking water, bunches 
of plantains and bananas, rolls of tiger skins, bales on 



A MIXED CAEGO. 



487 



"bales of goat skins, salt fish, boxes and strings of dried 
sausages, rolls of " tamals,''' turkeys in groups all around 
tlie decks tied by tke legs, parrots of every bue and 
size all talking and scolding at once, crates of small, 
long-legged ducks of a peculiar kind suck as I bave 
never seen outside of Mexico, sweet potatoes, garden 
. vegetables of almost every variety, and fruits of 
wbicb I can give no description ; oranges, lemons, limes, 
wooden-ware, and a variety of utterly indescribable 
manufactured articles of tbe country. Tbe passengers 
were required to handle tbeir own baggage, and owners 
of freight bad to do tbe same. 

All tbe passengers, crew, and outsiders were talking 
at once, tbougb in tbe best of bumor, and altogether, 
they made more noise than would bave been kicked up 
in New York over the arrival of a Spanish fleet of war 
steamers, charged with the trifling task of bombarding 
all the forts and capturing all tbe fleets and sea-ports of 
tbe United States. But I must say in justice to them 
all, that no such scenes of ruffianism and rowdyism as 
we are accustomed to witness in New York, on tbe ar- 
rival of even a ferry-boat, took place, or ever take place 

here. 

My stay in Vera Cruz was prolonged far beyond the 
limit we had fixed when leaving Puebla. At that time, 
we intended to leave for Havana, by the British 
steamer Tyne, on the 1st of January; but 'Mr. Seward 
having changed his mind, and determined to wait for 
the American steamer Cleopatra, ten days later, and a 
heavy norther delaying that steamer a day or two lon- 
ger, I had considerable time to kill — as it turned out, 
time and the malarious atmosphere of the Gulf Coast 
got the best of it, and came very near killing me. 



488 THE CALIFORNIA BEAR SAMPSON. 

Meantime, a French steamer, the Francia., and an Eng- 
lish freight-steamer plying between New Orleans, To- 
basco, Tampico,- Vera Cruz, Havana and Liverpool, 
'^promiscuous," as it were, arrived; and with three 
steamers in port at once, Vera Cruz presented an ap- 
pearance of liveliness quite unusual. 

I swore at Guadalajara that I would never attend 
another bull-fight, and I meant it. But I did not say I 
would not attend a bear-fight. One Sunday, the walls 
of the City of Vera Cruz were placarded with posters 
announcing a grand fight to come off at the Plaza de 
Toros^ between the celebrated California grizzly bear 
Sampson — the same I believe Avhich chawed uj) and 
mortally injured " Grrizzly Adams," — and a " valiente 
toro^'' at 4^ o'clock p. m. In the pictures on the posters 
Sampson had a little the worst of the fight, but I did 
not believe that the artist was fully acquainted with 
his subject, and in company with other Californians 
backed our piasano, the bear, for the fight, against all 
odds. 

The old fellow was about one hundred years old, 
more or less, and had lost in other fights, and by age, 
nearly every sign of a tooth ; nevertheless, he was a 
healthy specimen of the grizzly, weighing about one 
thousand pounds, and able to entertain any bull ever 
raised in Spanish America. 

The bull selected was one of the vicious, long-horned, 
black, Spanish brutes, not very large, but active, and 
when he was brought in by the vacqiieros^ in the morn- 
ing, made it very lively for all the horses and loose 
boys and things in the neighborhood. 

At the appointed time some two thousand or twenty- 
five hundred people, of all ages, sizes, colors and sexes 



A]S"D THE MEXICAN BULL. 489 

were within the enclosure, with soldiers posted all 
around the barriers, to keep order, and a special squad 
within the outer ring, with loaded muskets to shoot the 
bear if he should escape from the inner ring of heavy, 
upright timbers, thirty feet across, in wMch the fight 
was to take place. It would have been a good joke on 
them had they ever fired at him. 

The first part of the performance — consisting of tum- 
bling, and ci'oss-bar and ring exercises by a party of na- 
tive artists — was looked upon with impatience by the 
crowd, and at last, when the cries of " el toro ! el toro !" 
were getting too loud to be longer disregarded, Seiior 
Bueno Core came forward and opened the door of the 
pen in which the bull was confined. In rushed the 
bull, and made a pass at old Sampson, who was quietly 
walking back and forth, looking at the audience. 

At the first touch of the bull's horns, old Samj)son 
raised his immense, bulky carcass, took the poor bull 
lovingly in his brawny arms, and grasping him by the 
neck with his worn-out teeth j^roceeded to shake him, 
as a terrier dog shakes a rat. His teeth were so bad 
that he could not break the bull's neck, but he held 
him as a mother might hold her infant, and compressed 
his neck as if it had been a loaf of bread. This went 
on until the bull called for help, and the audience be- 
gan to call out, " give the bull a chance !" when the Se- 
no;r and his assistants dashed water by the hogshead 
upon the bear to make him break his hold, and at last 
succeeded. 

Then old Sampson, in a rage, went to the side of the 
ring, and began to dig a deep hole in the ground. 
All efforts to drive him from his work were unavailing 
for half an hour, and, meantime, he had a hole dug in 



490 SUNDAY AMUSEMENTS IN VEKA CRUZ. 

wliicli lie miglit liave buried an elephant. This excited 
the audience, who shouted, to urge the bull on to give 
the foreign bear fits. 

At last, the bull was induced by the exhibition of a 
red blanket pulled over the bear's side by a cord from 
above, and the apj3arent cowardice of old Sampson, to 
go up and give him a dig in the ribs. He darted back 
as soon as he had done it, but old Sampson was now 
downright mad. He had stood the pounding and pok- 
ing with iron bars and clubs without a word of em- 
phatic dissent, but to be insulted by the bull and set 
down as a coward, was more than he could or would 
submit to. At a bound he was at the bull's side, fold- 
ing him once more in his loving embrace, and prepared 
to show how they " rock me to sleep mother," in Cali- 
fornia. He, without more ado, carried the bull to the 
hole which he had been digging, bore him dovm with 
his immense weight until his back gave way under the 
pressure, and then placing him affectionately in the 
hole, held him down with one fore paw, while with the 
other he commenced to cover him up with dirt. The 
bull roared with pain and terror, and once got partially 
upon his feet in the struggle, but only to go back with 
greater force, and receive numerous slaps in the side 
from the enraged bear, which appeared to knock the 
breath all out of his body. 

The audience were now satisfied that the bull was . 
done for, and no matx?h for a California grizzly bear, 
even without teeth, and began to move out. The back- 
ers of the bull gave up the fight, and Seiior Bueno Core 
and assistants entered the ring, and after a long strug- 
gle and any amount of water poured upon him, com- 
pelled Sampson to let go his hold and return to his 



AlIATEUE BULL-FIGHTING. 491 

cage. And so the entertainment ended. I regret to 
add tliat wlien tlie bull was raised to Ms feet it was 
found that his back was so injui'ed that he could not 
stand and he must be killed. The buzzards had abeady 
gathered in clouds in the vicinity, as if conscious that 
a feast Avas being prepared. This is Sunday amusement 
in Vera Cruz. But it was death on the bull. 

But the bull does not always get the worst of it, in 
encounters with man and beast, in Mexico and else- 
where. I remember a bull and bear fight in New Or- 
leans, in which the Attakapas bull General Jackson, 
doubled up the bear like an old shoe at the first charge, 
and made him bellow for help in a few seconds. I re- 
D-ret to say, that on that occasion my sympathies were 
so strono-ly Avith the bear at the start, that I lost all 
the money that my boyish industry had gathered to- 
gether in several months. After the lapse of many 
years I got even at Vera Cruz. 

A distinguished Mexican gentleman — whose name I 
suppress for various reasons — ^told us, one day on the 
trip fi'om Guanajuato to Mexico, of his experience in 
bull-fighting in one of the larger cities of the Repub- 
lic. It is the custom in bull-fighting countries, for the 
young bloods of the first families, who wish to distin- 
guish themselves, to appear in the Plaza de Toros as 
amateui's, and fight the bull on important occasions. 
When Maximilian arrived in Mexico, a special gran 
funcion was gotten up for his benefit, and the young 
men of some of the oldest and most aristocratic of the 
Mocho families of the capital, appeared in the ring as 
picadors and matadors, the royal couple presiding at the 
brutal entertainment and delivering the prizes to the 
heroes of the conflict. 



492 AN amateur's story. 

On such occasions the amateur is usually allowed a 
companion, who is posted in the ways of the ring and 
is called a ^^ padrinor The padrino directs the ama- 
teur how to carry on the fight, and, in fact, acts as his 
chaj^eron and next fi'iend, throughout. Our acquaint- 
ance was crowded into the fight against hii; will ; but 
I will let him tell it himself as he told it to us : 

" I said, ' No, no, the bull has done me no insult ; 
why should I fight with him ? But they all said, ' you 
are a brave young man, and want to make your way in 
the world, and be popular with the ladies ; it is better 
that 3^ou begin now that you have so good time, and 
fight the bull.' So I let them put my name on the bills. 
Well, I liked this matter not very much at all, but I 
could not get out of it, and so they kept me in. When 
the day comes, I went in with vcij padrino^ and said to 
myself when I sees the bull, ' I will keep over on the 
other side and let the others do the fight.' But after a 
time the audience began to get excited, and to encour- 
age me on, they commenced to throw oranges and such 
trifles at me pretty lively. Then m.j padrino comes up 
to me and he says : ^ 

' Look you ; this will not do very well at all ! 
If you do not fight the bull there will be a row, and it 
is better that you do not disgrace yourself!' 

" So I told him, I will fight the bull sooner as to dodge 
my head all the times from the oranges and bananas 
which the audience throws at me. He looked at my 
saddle and said : 

* The cinch is loose, and it is better that you get off 
and let me tighten it before you go into the fight.' 

" So I got off and stood by the side of my horse 
looking at him to cinch him tighter. This time I was 



OF HIS EXPERIENCE AT BULL-FIGBmiNG. 493 

stooping over, and saw not the bull, wliicli I was think- 
ing was on the other side of the ring. As I so stood 
I feel myself lifted up into the air, and when I came 
down the bull was on my top, tramping me, and using 
his horns on me, so that when they got him away I 
could not stand, and was confined to my bed for six 
weeks. 

" Then they told me, when I was well again, that the 
judges had awarded me the highest prize, because I 
had expose myself so bravely to the bull, and not try 
for to get out of the way when he come for me. 

" I said, that is all very well ; I was always a brave 
man and care not much for the bull." Then they said : 

' But the judges let that bull out alive, and decided 
that when you should recover and the bull should re- 
cover, you should fight it over once more again together. 
You are well and the bull is very well indeed.' 

" I said, no, I have no desire to hurt the bull. He 
was receive much aggravation, and I forgive him for 
what he did do to me !" 

" They said that such language would not do for the 
judges, and if I did not like to fight the bull again I 
was disgrace for life, and it was better I should leave 
the city that evening. Now there was a young lady 
there which I thought of very much, and I concluded 
it was better to fight the bull than to lose the lady. 

" When we went into the ring again, I see the bull 
looking very mad and ugly, and I concluded I would 
go over on the other side and wait a little while ; prob- 
ably he might* get better-natured or afraid to come at 
me. But pretty soon, the people they commenced to 
encourage me with fruit and such things as I don't eat, 
and cry out to me to go in and fight the bull at once, or 



494 AN ajiateur's story. 

come out of the ring. So I told my imd/rino I would 
figlit him a little but do not feel very well. 

" He said : " It is better you should throw the handd- 
villas into tlie bull's neck. I mil attract the attention 
of the bull, and when you are ready to throw, you call 
out and I will jump aside." 

" I said I would do so, and volj pad/rino went up to the 
bull, and begun to dance around before his nose. Then 
I ran up to throw the handariUas^ but I was so excited 
that I have forgotten to call out to him to get out of 
the way, and, when I let them go they strike him in 
the back instead of the bull. Then my padrino he 
bellow louder as ever the bull should do, and begin to 
dance like a tarantula and catch at the handarillas. At 
last he got hold of them and tore the barbs out of his 
flesh. Then he runs over to me and pulls me down, 
and begin to beat me over the head and the back with 
the flat side of his sword, and his foot and he says : 

" Look here you now ! It is better before we go 
any further, that one thing shall be understood imme- 
diate. Are you the padi^iiio of me, or the padrtTW of 
the hell r' 

" He was so very angry that I could not say an expla- 
nation, and so I told him I would go home, for I like 
not the sport, and it might make us bad fi'iends or 
something if we kept on. Some of the oranges and 
apples and things which they throwed at me as I went 
out were very solid, and I left the town that night. 
Since then I have had no quarrel with the bulls, and I 
like not to have any more." '^ 

While waiting at Vera Cruz for the arrival of Mr. 
Seward from Orizaba, and the departure of the good 
steamer Cleopatra which was to bear us away, at last. 



CASTLE OF SA]Sr JUAN DE TLLOA. 495 

from tlie shores of Mexico, I soiiglit for and obtained, 
tlirougli the kindness of my Mexican and American 
friends, a permit to visit, and inspect in all its details, 
tlie Castle of San Juan de Ulloa. 

Accompanied by two ladies, Mr. Brennan, and some 
military friends, we embarked in a Custom-House boat, 
and were rowed over to the famous old fortress, on a 
warm bright morning, when the sea w^as calm, and the 
water so clear that we could see every object in it down 
to the bottom. The waters of this coast fairly swarm 
with sharks of the most savage description, and we saw 
several of the grey monsters disporting themselves near 
the surface and keeping a weather-eye open for a chance 
to take somebody in, as we rowed along. 

The Spaniards lavished millions on millions upon the 
construction of this fortress, which was intended to 
serve as a complete protection to Vera Cruz and the 
shipping which might gather here, fi-om the attacks of 
the dreaded English buccaneers who were desolating 
the whole Spanish Main, and j)racticing cruelties on 
their luckless captives as atrocious as those which the 
Spaniards had inflicted upon the unfortunate natives 
of tropical America. Enormous rings of pure copper 
were built into the solid wall, along the whole western 
front of the castle next the city, for the ships to fasten 
to, under the protection of the guns of the fortress. 
Those rings are still there, but now amount to but so 
many tons of old copper, as the water has shoaled to 
such an extent as to render it impossible for any vessel 
above the grade of a yawl-boat to lie there, if there 
was any longer a necessity for their doing so. The 
steamers now anchor inside the reef, on the North of 
the Castle, and sail-vessels to the South of it. The 



496 WHAT IT WAS AND IS. 

American steamer Cleopatra^ being of comparatively 
light di'aft, and not large and unwieldy, runs in be- 
tween tlie castle and mole, and was tlien lying at an- 
chor there. 

An iumiense coral reef extends out to the north-west 
from the castle for several miles, and from this most of 
the material for building the fortress was taken. The 
size of this coral formation is astonishing. Many of 
the specimens are three feet in thickness — like the 
trunks of great trees, in fact. As we neared the castle 
we could see that a section of the entire wall some 
thirty feet long, the same in height, and twelve or fif- 
teen feet in thickness , being undermined, had broken 
out, and now leans over towards the city, leaving a 
great gap, which no attempt has been made to fill. 
The boat-landing is in the interior of the castle, a 
crooked passage, evidently excavated in the coral for 
that purpose, leading up to that j^oint. This j^assage 
was formerly flanked by substantial walls, which are 
now in ruins. 

No description of the castle would give any clear idea 
of its character, without a ground i^lan or diagram to il- 
lustrate it. The immensely thick walls, all the way 
around, are backed by a range of barracks, dungeons, 
and offices, whose roof of solid stone, flat, thick, and 
paved on the top with cement, would support batteries 
of almost any weight. All the guns in the foi^tress 
were originally mounted en harhette, upon this roof 
There is nothing like a casemate with protection for 
the gunners about the castle. The guns — mostly of 
ii'on, and ranging fi^om thirty-two to sixty-four pounders, 
made in 1844-5 — are all in bad condition, the carriages 
nearly valueless fi-om decay, and many dismounted and 



A GEEAT WOEK IN EUINS. 497 

lying useless on tlie roof. Inside tliere are court-yards, 
plazas or parade-grounds of sufficient extent for a large 
force, and quarters for a thousand men or more. 

The Spaniards, in constructing this fortress, made all 
provision for defending it to the last extremity against 
assault. The moat passed and the outer wall scaled, 
the assailants would find the garrison retreating into 
several minor castles, each with its own moat and draw- 
bridge, and, in those days, " a hard nut to crack," in 
every sense of the ex23ression. The moat is now so 
filled with sand and debris as to be fordable even at 
high-tide, and the old draw-bridges being no longer of 
any use, have been replaced by bridges which are fixed 
in their places and answer better the purposes of com- 
munication between the difi:erent sections of the castle. 
I should say at a rough guess, that the whole fortifica- 
tion covers eight to ten acres. 

Outside the old main wall, on the eastern front and 
northern end, there is now an earth-work of sufficient 
height to screen the gunners, and mounted with about 
twenty pretty heavy guns. This battery if put in or- 
der, might be capable of doing some serious damage to 
a hostile fleet ; but the value set upon it by the French 
may be inferred from the fact that they dumped an 
enormous pile of coal — some thousands of tons — right 
into it, covering several of the guns on the north end 
to a depth of many feet, and the coal lies there yet, 
just as they left it in the haste of their departure. I 
suppose that I break no law of hospitality in sayins: 
what everybody who has visited the castle within the 
last ten years knows, that, practically, this old fortress, 
once one of the strongest and most formidable in the 
world, is to day utterly worthless for defence against a 



498 THE GAERISON AND PRISONERS. 

hostile fleet of any strength. So well aware are the 
military men and Government of Mexico of this fact, 
that no attempt is now made to improve it, or even 
keep it in repair ; and it is now considered merely as a 
fortified prison, rather than as a real castle of defense 
against invaders. A vigorous bombardment of a few 
hom-s by heavy artillery would reduce it to a pile of 
ruins, but there is no likelihood of any necessity for 
even that, as the exi^erience of Gen. Scott and other 
commanders, shows that the city can be taken with lit- 
tle trouble by an attack from the land side, and the cas- 
tle is then useless to either party. 

Leaving our boat at the landing, we passed into the 
main square or parade-ground, and from thence to the 
Salle des Armas, where we were received most courte- 
ously by the commandant Colonel Carbo, Captain For- 
tunato Mendez the second in command, and their sub- 
ordinates. Even at this time — the early j^art of Janu- 
ary — the heat of the sun — reflected back from the ce- 
ment pavement and the white walls surrounding — was 
oppressive in the plaza as we passed through it ; what 
it must be in June, July, or August, I have no wish to 
know from experience. It must be perfectly fearful. 

The commandant was a young man of slight statue, 
but said to be a good ofiicer and a man of great bra- 
very and determination of character. From his quar- 
ters we went through the interior of the castle. The 
garrison consisted of two hundred men, and within the 
gloomy d\ingeons of this fearful place there were eighty 
prisoners, civil and military, several of whom are un- 
der sentence of imprisonment for life. 

These dungeons were constructed by the Spaniards, 
and all smell of the rack, torture, and inquisition. My 



THE DUISTGEOIN^S. 499 

God ! sucli a place to immure a liuman being in ! It 
makes one shudder to think of it, after looking at tkose 
dark, noisome caverns ; wkat must it be to enter tbere 
witk tlie word '-^peiyetua " entered on tbe books against 
one's name ! Deatb at once, would be a mercy beside 
it. 

The number of these low, vaulted cells, connecting 
one with another, is hardly less than sixty to eighty, all 
told, and the best of them is but a little less horrible 
than the worst. The roof is low, and arched in each, 
the walls, roof and floor of one piece, as it were, and in 
most of them the only ventilation is through a small 
opening in the top, so slight as to admit of the entrance 
of but a mere glimmer of light at midday. A few 
have small, narrow, port-holes, or slits, through the 
outer walls looking seaward, but they are so cun- 
ningly contrived, being bent or curved as they pass 
through the thick stone-work, that the poor wretches 
inside can never see through them and get even a 
glimpse of a sail or the sea outside. 

What fearful tales of hopeless misery, despair, and 
lingering but welcome death, could those damp, drip- 
ping walls tell if they had tongues. The damp sea-air 
collects in the the roofs of all of them, and falls, year 
after year, with a steady, unceasing drip, drip, drip, to 
the paved floor. This water is charged heavily with 
lime, and stalactites, three and four feet in length, hang 
from the ceiling, like slender icicles, by thousands. On 
the cold stone floor the dropping water forms large but- 
tons of fine lime deposits, which give it the appearance 
at a casual glance, of having been laid in fancy mosaic. 
Remember that Vera Cruz is worse cursed with yellow 
fever, or vomito and malarious diseases of all kinds, 



500 "who enters here leaves hope behind." 

than any other place on earth, that the climate is fear- 
fully hot and damp, that the harbor outside the castle 
swarms with sharks which make the attempt to swim 
from thence to the shore certain death, in case a prison- 
er should by any chance escape from his cell, and you 
can form some idea of Avhat must be the condition, 
mental and physical, of the prisoners of the castle of 
San Juan de Ulloa. I was not surprised when I saw 
by the light of the flashing torches of our guides, high 
up on the ceiling of one of these dens of horrors, rudely 
scrawled with charcoal, evidently in the darkness and 
through the sense of feeling alone, by some prisoner 
mounted on the shoulders of his companions, the fa- 
miliar quotation from Dante : 

" Who enters liere leaves hope behind." 

The inscription is in Spanish and without date, but 
in an adjoining room I saw the lion of Spain drawn in 
the same manner on the wall, with the date beneath, 
1835, and from comparison judged the first to be the 
oldest. 

The cells or dungeons occupied by the prisoners at 
the present time, are the most comfortable — or rather 
the least noisome and horrible — of any in the fortress ; 
but they are fearfril, nevertheless. There was a report 
in the city that two prisoners had been shot in the cas- 
tle just before our visit, but the commandant assured 
us that such was not the case, as no executions had 
taken place there for some months. I saw nothing to 
indicate that the prisoners were treated with any un- 
called for severity or cruelty by those in command there 
now ; and, on the contrary, I believe that all that the 



THE FATE OF GE]S:EEAL CASTILLO. 501 

arrangement of the place will admit of, is done to miti- 
gate the horrors of their situation. I was told that at 
certain hours, those not guilty of attempting to break 
their parole, are allowed to promenade on the roof for a 
specified time daily, and such other indulgences as are 
possible are granted them. 

Among the prisoners is General Castillo, who was 
second in command under Miramon in the exj)edition 
sent out from Queretaro by Maximilian to capture Presi- 
dent Juarez, at Zacatecas. This expedition came very 
near accomplishing its object, but the fortunate inter- 
vention of a few American sharp-shooters, who held the 
imperialist advance force in check until Escobedo ar- 
rived and routed them, saved the President, and turned 
the tide of war back towards Queretaro, where Mira- 
mon arrived with but a handful of men left, out of all 
the splendid force with which he had started out in the 
fall flush of hope and confidence of victory. 

Castillo gave the Republic much trouble, and when, 
at last captured and sentenced to ten years banishment 
to Yucatan, as an alternative for death, foolishly and 
wickedly broke his parole, and returned to Mexico a 
month afterwards, only to be re-captured and sent to 
serve out his ten years in San Juan de Ulloa. He had 
been there a year, and was fast succumbing to the 
deadly unhealthiness of the place and the hopelessness 
of his position. 

While in the City of Mexico, I was approached by 
parties Avho desired me to say a word in his behalf to 
members of the Government, and to carry him a mes- 
sage when I visited San Juan de Ulloa ; but as I was 
situated, I felt that it would be wholly out of place for 
me to do so, and would have nothing to do with it. I 



502 MEMENTOES OF THE LAST INVASION. 

learned after our visit, however, that one of my com- 
panions, a young, kind-hearted and sympathetic girl, 
had promised the General's wife, that if she had an op- 
portunity she would give him the message of love and 
hope — love warm and true indeed, but hope, I fear, 
only delusive and empty — from her. 

While we were in the castle the young lady went 
past his window near enough to speak to him. He was 
standing by the bars, and looking out, but the moment 
he saw us he turned away and concealed himself from 
our sight. I caught but a momentary glimpse of his 
blanched and haggard face, but that was quite enough. 
When I learned all the facts I was quite glad that the 
message was not delivered, under the circumstances, 
but I could not fail- to honor the young girl for her 
sympathy and kindness of heart, however much it 
might have been impolitic and misdirected. 

From the inner castle, we walked out upon the beach 
outside the eastern wall, and there in a small patch of 
cane-brake, saw the monument erected in memory of 
" the French who fell in the expedition to Mexico, in 
1838-9." The monument is still perfect, but I saw 
several skulls and other human bones scattered all 
around it, and presume that the invaders have not been 
permitted to rest in peace, even in the silence of their 
lonely graves on the shore of the land they came to 
conquer. 

The French, in the invasion which culminated in the 
"Empire," brought a large number of small steam 
launches of iron, for use in the harbor of Vera Cruz 
and vicinity. These are lying wrecked, with theii^ bot- 
toms stove in and machinery removed or ruined, and 
rapidly wasting away, all around the eastern side of the 



MATERIAL FOE PLOUGHSHAEES. 503 

castle. They have been used in some places to make a 
breakwater, with the reef in which the castle is built, 
and are all now utterly worthless save for old iron ; 
they will soon be worthless even for that purpose. 
Many old S23anish guns of the finest metal, thrown into 
the sea years ago, are still lying in the shallow water 
around the castle, and might be converted into plough- 
shares and pruning-hooks to the benefit of the country, 
but probably never will be. 

I have spoken more freely of the castle of Sa7i Juan 
de Ulloa, and what I saw there, from the fact that I 
visited it independent of Mr. Seward, who did not go 
over until some days later ; but it is not a pleasant sub- 
ject to me under any circumstances. I am heartily glad 
that I went there, and thankful for the attention and 
courtesy which enabled me to inspect it throughout, 
but I am glad that I shall not look upon it, nor on its 
like, again. 

In every life there is a question unanswered, a doubt 
unsolved, a mystery unexplained, which becomes more 
and more a subject of irritation and annoyance as age 
progresses. A positive insult may be forgiven, and 
time cicatrizes the wound inflicted by the fang of slan- 
der, or the physical assassin's weapon. But the doubt 
is worse than the reality. 

What old bachelor, tottering down the hill of life 
alone, would not feel a sense of inexpressible relief, 
could he but know, to a certainty, that Jane Smith, on 
whom he was so spooney at twenty-one, would have 
refused him, out and out, had he dared to ask her the 
momentous question? He did not ask the question, 
and to day is in doubt whether, after all, she might not 
have said yes, instead of no, and so changed the whole 



504 



WHAT TROUBLES THE AUTHOR. 



tenor of his life and Lers. It is that which worries him 
worst of all, and which wdll kill him in the end. 

Now-shall I confess it ? — a double doubt, a duplicate 
question, a Siamese- twin mystery — as it were, — will 
haunt me like a double-team of nightmares, while mem- 
ory lives w^ithin me. As I leave the shores of Mexico, 
I carry away with me many a pleasant recollection on 
which I shall dwell with satisfaction in after years ; but 
there is a lurking bitter in my cup of bliss ; a sharp 
set thorn — as it were, — close under the rose of my hap- 
piness. Here is where my doubts come in. 

As we journeyed one day through the mountains of 
Jalisco, we saw a son of the soil, — in scanty raiment 
clad — with unkempt hair and dilapidated sombrero — 
setting off a face which still bore the stamp of the 
grand pride of the haughty race of conquering Castile, 

—earnestly 
eno-ao-ed in 
the hum- 
ble occu- 
pation of 
drivino; a 
pig to mar- 
ket. He 
had las- 
soed the 
pig by the 
hind leg, 
and was 




THE LINE OF BEAUTY. 



endeavoring to make him keep the track by jerking the 
rieta with his left hand, w^hile he encouraged him to 
advance by the vigorous application of a cornstalk to 
his hinder parts w^th his right. 



THE RANCHERO AND HIS PIG. 505 

The pig tlius urged, persisted in traveling, mainly 
witli tlie two legs on one side, whicli naturally caused 
Mm to move in a circle, instead of advancing in a di- 
rect line. As the circle grew neither larger nor smaller 
as the day wore on, it was evident that neither man 
nor beast got nearer home or nearer market. It never ap- 
peared to occur to the man that if he would change the 
rieta and the cornstalk from hand to hand occasionally, 
the pig might be induced to change his tactics also, and 
adopt the line of practical advance and progress, in place 
of the line of beauty, which leads us, practically, nowhere, 
after all. The chances are that hunger, or the desire 
for " sleep, tired nature's sweet restorer " etc., in the full- 
ness of time induced a change of tactics on the jDart of 
one or the other ; but ivliich ? Did the endurance of the 
man equal his attachment to " el corns del pais " and 
prove too much for the pig ? or did the pig's proverbial 
obstinacy wear out the man ? or did each hold his own, 
and are they both destined to walk around and around 
on that lonely hillside as we left them, through the end- 
less cycles of eternity ? I ought to have staid and seen 
it out ; but an aching void within me urged me on, and 
I did not ; I wish I had let it ache ! 

The other doubt is sadder, and more painful still. As 
we went down by rail from Paso del Macho to Vera 
Cruz, we looked from the window of what had been 
Maximilian's imperial car, upon a scene by the roadside 
which struck me nearer to the heart, and filled my soul 
with sadness and doubt more utterly unfathomable. 

A poor, old steed — who may have borne Santa Anna 
and his fortunes in his day, or better served the world 
by drawing a dump-cart for a grading party on the rail- 
road track — ^had been turned out to die. The zapilotes 



506 



THE HORSE AND THE ZAPILOTES. 



— wliicli are among the institutions of tlie country, — 

watcliin g 
^s>^ from afar. 




saw 


de a t li ' s 


signal in 


his gla- 


zing eye, 


and 



THE HOESE AND THE ZAPILOTES. 



wheeli n g 
down 
from 
their airy 
heig h t s , 
came trooping from all directions to the coming feast. 

As each detachment arrived they settled on the 
ground in successive circles around the horse, gave one 
searching look to make sure that they had made no 
mistake as to the ultimate result, then drew in their 
heads, humj)ed their shoulders, and went to sleep, sat- 
isfied that in Heaven's own time, grim death would 
do his perfect work, when they would pick the bones 
of the animal before them as clean as a squirrel picks 
the kernel out of a nut. They could have finished him 
there and then with a little efibrt ; but that politeness 
which characterizes every inhabitant of tropical Amer- 
ica, forbade such unseemly haste, and why M^ork for 
what would come without labor if they but waited ? 

So murmuring " MananaJ"^ ^^])oco tiempo^'"' and " Salle 
luego^^^ as is the custom of the country, they dropped 
off, one by one, to sleep and pleasant dreams. The 
mori])und knew as well as we did what they came for, 
and read his fate in their skinny, expressionless faces, 



WHICH WHIPPED ? 507 

but lie was game to the last, and no rule of politeness 
bade him to hurry up with his dying ; so he took his 
time for it, and showed them, unmistakably, by his looks 
that he regarded their presence as — ^to some extent — ill- 
timed and indelicate, and partaking of the character of 
undue familiarity. 

They were engaged in this nice little game of " freeze 
out, " as we left the station and passed out of sight. 
But who won ? Did the zapilotes and death ]jeat the 
horse at last ? or did he starve them all while they 
waited ? or are they still waiting and watching, he liv- 
ing and hoping, and the game bound to go on to the 
end of time ? Look upon this picture, and then on that, 
and tell me what are the sufferings of common human- 
ity to mine ! 

Reader : I have told you the secret of my blighted 
life. You will now know why my forehead is prema- 
turely wrinkled, my hair tiu'ued grey before my time, 
and a tendency to grow hump-shouldered is developing 
in my frame, when you meet me on Broadway or Mont- 
gomery street. A blighted being, harassed with doubts 
which may never be solved, I go forth from the land 
where Cortez fought and conquered, and Montezuma 
died. 

Let the riddle of the Sphynx go unread, the story of 
the Lost Tribes untold, the problem of the squaring of 
the circle unsolved ; they are but as vanity and vexa- 
tion of spirit to me ; but would you save my grey 
hairs from going down in sorrow to the grave, skip all 
the rest, and come down to the ranchero and the pig, 
the horse and the zapilotes, — ^tell me who whipped, and 
oh, tell me quickly ! 



CHAPTER XXII. 

THE LAST WE SAW OF MEXICO. 

nnHOUGH we had still to toucli at a distant Mexican 
-*- port — tliat of Sisal in Yucatan, — at Vera Cruz, our 
long trans-continental trip througli tropical Mexico, was 
practically over. The story of that journey is told, but 
its results and consequences — serious or otherwise for 
the Rej^ublic of Mexico and the Juarez Administration 
— remain to be developed in the future. So much 
i^le s2:)eculation as to the object and purport of this 
visit of Mr. Seward to the Rej^ublic of Mexico, has 
been indulged in by the people and press of Ijoth na- 
tions, and so many efforts made to give it a false politi- 
cal significance and importance, that I have thought it 
best to put on record all the speeches and letters made 
and written by Mr. Seward in Mexico, that the world 
might see for itself, just what actually passed between 
him and the citizens and officials of Mexico. 

To complete the work, I asked permission to copy, ver- 
batim, the farewell letters written by Mr. Seward as 
we were pre2:)aring to go on board the steamer at Vera 
Cruz, to the President and the leading members of his 
Cabinet, Mrs. Juarez, and the Commissioner, Seiior Bos- 
sero, who was sent out to Guadalajara by the Mexican 
Government, to meet the party, and provide for our 
comfort and enjoyment on our joui'ney through the 
Republic. 



ME. SEWAKd's farewell LETTERS. 509 

Veka Ceuz, January 8tli., 18Y0. 

My Dear Sm : — I have at last arrived at this port, after a very- 
interesting journey from the Capital, which has afforded me op- 
portunities to study the structure, resources and prospects of 
the States of Puebla, Tlaxcala, and Yera Cruz, not to speak of 
tlie antiquities of Cholulu, and the marvelous scenery of the 
Cumbres of Orizaba. 

It is with the greatest satisfaction that I find that the only 
popular discontents existing in the Republic are merely local 
in their character, and have no connection with the general con- 
duct of national affairs. 

These local difficulties will find a solution in the states where 
they occur, if the Federal Administration shall be allowed to 
treat them with impartiality and moderation. 

It remains for me, only, to thank the President once more for 
the distinguished consideration and hospitality which I have 
received at his hands and the hands of the Mexican People. 
Renewing at the same time the expression of my most fervent 
wishes for the prosperity and happiness of the Mexican Repub- 
lic, I take leave of the President and his distinguished associates, 
with the most profound respect and affectionate esteem. 

WILLIAM II. SEWARD. 
Senok Don S. Lekdo de Tejada, &c., &C.3 &c. Mexico. 



Yera Ceuz, January 8th., 1870. 

My Deae Me. Leedo : — In leaving Mexico after the visit 
which you have done so much to distinguish, and to render 
pleasant and instructive, I shall not fail to cherish the hope that 
the course of political affairs in Mexico, may allow you, at no 
distant day, to come to the United States, and renew with me 
there the studies which will be so useful to you hereafter, in a 
career, which I foresee is to be equally honorable to yourself 
and important to the Republican cause in America. Accept 
my warmest and most sincere thanks for all the honors and 



510 MR. Seward's farewell letters. 

kindness you have bestowed upon me, and remember me always 
as a laithful and conliding friend. 

WILLIAM II. SEWARD. 
Senor Lerdo de Tejada, t&c, tfec, &c. Mexico. 



Vera Cruz, January, 8th., 1870. 
My Dear Mrs. Juarez : — Providence is not altogether capri- 
cious even in the direction of political events. It was a great 
kindness to me, that permitted me to see you and know you in 
your exile to the United States. But it is a crowning felicity, 
that after having done so I have been allowed to be your guest, 
after your happy restoration to your family, friends, and exalted 
position in Mexico. It is almost too much to hope that I may 
be able to receive you, your husband and friends, at my own 
house in the United States ; still I will not relinquish that 
fond expectation. Meantime, and in any event, I pray to be 
remembered as among the friends who can be faithful and grate- 
ful to you, as long as I live. 

WILLIAM II. SEWARD. 
La Senora Juarez, &c., &c., &g. Mexico. 



Yera Cruz, January 8th., 1870. 

My Dear Mr. Romero : — It is not to renew my grateful 
acknowledgments that I write this parting letter, so much as it 
is to assure you of my profound sympathy with you, in your 
arduous labors for the restoration of law, order, prosperity, and 
prestige in Mexico. 

I feel quite hopeful that these labors will be appreciated by 
the people and Government of Mexico, soon ; but even if this 
should fail to be the case, talents, energy, and loyalty like yours 
will not be suppressed. You will in that case, only rise to 
higher usefulness and honors l:^ereafter. 

With most grateful and affectionate remembrance, to Mrs. 



511 

Romero, her mother, and jour sister, and sincere regrets that I 
am not allowed their society with yours any longer, I am, my 
dear Mr. Eomero, forever your faithful and devoted friend. 

WILLIAM H. SEWARD. 

Senok Don Matias Romeeo, &c., &g., &c. Mexico. 



Yeea Ceuz, January 8th., 18Y0. 

My Deae Peesident : — I have thought it most becoming, to 
address my parting words to you through the office of the Min- 
ister of Relations. But I could not think of leaving the coun- 
try without making a more direct and unstudied acknowledg- 
ment of my profound sense of obligation to you, for the exag- 
gerated attentions and hospitality with which you have received 
myself and family during our delightful sojourn in Mexico. I 
feel sure, that I am safe in congratulating you upon the finality 
of peace and regeneration, in the great country which you have 
rescued from anarchy and foreign conquest. 

Accept, my dear Mr. President, my fervent wishes, that you 
may enjoy fullness of years, and the choicest blessings of Prov- 
idence. 

Your most obliged and most obedient friend and servant. 

WILLIAM H. SEWARD. 
Don Benito Juaeez, President, &g., &c., &c. Mexico. 



Yeea Ceuz, January 10, 1870. 

My Deae Me. Bosseeo : — The hour of my departure from 
Mexico is so entirely filled with recollections of kindnesses 
received during my stay there, as to exclude even the thought 
of the welcome that I may hope to receive from my fam- 
ily and friends in the United States. In everything that has 
concerned me, the Mexican Government has not only mani- 
fested an unexampled sentiment of national hospitality, but 
they have practised in all things, a delicacy which only gen- 



512 VOYAGE FKOM VERA CRUZ TO YUCATAN. 

erous minds can justly appreciate. I was not slow in perceiv- 
ing that it was that delicacy which was the motive for your 
commission to meet me at Guadalajara, and attend me to 
the hour of embarkation. I am unable to express the deep 
sense 1 feel for cares and attentions, which have not merely saved 
me from every danger and discomfort, but whicli have made 
the journey of my family and friends, a constant instruction and 
continual pleasure. I pray you to accept my most grateful 
acknowledgments, with affectionate wishes for your continued 
welfare and tlie health and happiness of your children. You 
will hear from me, my dear Mr. Bossero, on my arrival at 'New 
York, and I shall hope on that occasion, that I am not forgot- 
ten by you. I am, my Dear Sir, very truly your friend. 

WILLIAM n. SEWAED. 



At 4 p. iki. on Tuesday, Januaiy 11th., 1870, we were 
all on board the Cleopatra, and she was steaming out 
of the harbor of Vera Cruz, past the Castle of San 
Juan de Ulloa, and the great coral reefs beyond it, into 
the Gulf of Mexico. At sunset, all on board subject 
to seasickness, were down with it ; the writer among 
the number, of course. All next day we were out of 
sight of land with a rough sea. The morning of the 
13th dawning clear and beautiful, revealed to us the 
low sandy shores of Yucatan along the southern hori- 
zon, and at noon we came to anchor off Sisal, in the 
open roadstead which serves for a harbor, save in case 
of a norther blowing, when there is no harbor at all. 

The sea being rough Mr. Seward decided not to go 
on shore, though he was strongly tempted to do so and 
spend the next twenty days in visiting the ancient 
Spanish city of Merida, the mysterious ruins of Palen- 
que, the logwood forests of Campeche, and other points 
of interest on the peninsula. 



AERIVAL AT SISAL. 513 

Worn out witli seasickness, and feverisli from mias- 
ma breathed at Vera Cruz, I determined to go asliore, 
and put off in a small boat with Mr. and Mrs. Brennan 
and others, to spend the night on the land. We were 
no sooner on shore than a committee called to learn 
what Mr. Seward's intentions were, and tender him the 
hospitalities of Sisal and of Yucatan, if he would 
land and accept them. Being told that he had decided 
not to land, they telegraphed at once to Merida to 
inform the Governor, and tendered me the use of the 
house provided for him in Sisal, for the little party who 
had come with me. 

Sisal has not much to see of special interest. The 
houses are all palm leaf thatched, with thick stone walls, 
rude, old-fashioned wooden doors, and glassless win- 
dows. The authorities showed us every possible atten- 
tion, and we inspected what there was to be seen, with 
interest. The old castle or " Castillo," — erected three 
centuries ago by the Spaniards, — is garrisoned by a 
company of regular troops of the Army of Mexico. 

Yucatan is not the most devotedly loyal State of 
the Kepublic, and the Government is obliged to keep a 
strong force there to protect its interests, and guard 
against pronunciamentoes and revolutions. The wild 
Indians of the interior are also troublesome, being suj)- 
plied with arms and ammunition — as the inhabitants of 
Merida justly complain — by the English traders and. 
authorities in Honduras, and the contemptible " King- 
dom of Mosquitia," whose orang-outang king is " the^ 
very good fiiend and ally of Her Majesty the Queen: 
of Great Britain, etc., etc." Then, more than half of 
the — so called — civilized Indians of Yucatan, do not 
submit to be governed by the Federal or State authore- 
ss 



514 YUCATAN ITS PEOPLE AND SPECIALITIES. 

ities : so that the peninsular can hardly be called a first 
class, quiet place to live in. Nevertheless, the roads are 
good, the country is inq^roviug, and the State has more 
to show in the way of exports — the product of her soil 
— than any other in the Republic. 

The annual receipts of the Custom-House at Sisal, 
amount to four hundred thousand dollars, and the ex- 
port of hemp — the best article of the kind now pro- 
duced in the world — amounted in 1869 to eighteen 
thousand bales of four hundred pounds each. This 
hemp is mainly raised around Merida, and the industry 
— which is a new one — is fast extending, and bringing 
prosperity and happiness to the State. Sisal has a pop- 
ulation of all colors, ages, sexes and conditions, of one 
thousand, all told. A great swamp and laguna extends 
miles up into the interior, in the rear of the town, and 
the place is not specially noted for its salubrity. 

Mr. Brennan and my old San Francisco friend. Lever, 
— who was a captain in the Volunteers during our civil 
war, and afterwards a member of the famous " Ameri- 
can Legion of Honor," and a Lieutenant Colonel in the 
Mexican Army, — now U. S. Mail Agent on the Cleopa- 
tra^ w^ent out on the laguna shooting ducks, iT)ises, 
flamingoes and— Heaven knows what not, — and had a glo- 
rious time, returning well laden with spoils, — all of 
Avhich were spoiled by the heat of the weather, next 
morning. 

Groves of tall, graceful cocoa-palms, and rank luxu- 
riant cane-brakes, give a peculiar tropical charm to the 
place as seen from the harbor. We saw but one car- 
riage in the place. It was a private coach, with wheels 
and bed as heaA^y as that of one of our great lumber 
wagons, and had a little inclosed cab-like structure, for 



THE SISAL THEATEE. 515 

two persons, perched higli up on leathern springs in tlie 
centre. It was drawn by three little mules harnessed 
all abreast, one in the shafts, and one on each side ; it 
will be long ere I shall look upon its like again. 

That night we all went to the Sisal theatre. It is a 
fanny affair. The stage Avas under a palm leaf-thatched 
shed, open on one side, and the scenery was perma- 
nently fixed, admitting of no changing. The audience 
sat in a large open yard, with the starry Heavens above 
them for a roof, and a grove of cocoa palm trees in full 
verdure for a back ground. It is doubtless the tallest 
'theatre in the world at this time, the best ventilated, 
and the safest in case of a fire or an earthquake. 

What the play was I could not find out. The com- 
pany was composed of amateurs, and the performance 
for the benefit of some charity which I hoj)e deserved 
it. The theatre was filled to repletion, the mosquitoes 
occupying all the space not required by the audience of 
some five hundred people. The principal actor was 
the Prefecto Politico of the town, a fine, fleshy, old 
gentleman, who, despite the loss of one eye, played his 
part right well. I made his acquaintance, and found 
him a true gentleman, and very pleasant company in- 
deed. Admission dos rials^ and un rial extra for a 
chair — ^total, thirty-seven and one half cents. The scene 
was novel and interesting, and I shall not soon forget that 
evening's entertainment at the theatre, by the side of the 
restless, moaning sea, on the wild, lone shore of Yu- 
catan. 

That evening a party of officials and leading citizens 
left Merida, on receipt of the telegram announcing Mr. 
Seward's arrival, and come down to the coast before 
midnight, having galloped their horses all the way. 



516 VISITOES FROM MERIDA. 

At ten A. M. Friday, January 14t]i., I retui'ned on 
board the Cleo^ati^a^ with the Collector of the Port of 
Sisal, the Captain of the Port, the 2nd Captain of the 
Port, the Prefecto Politico and other local officers, the 
American Consul at Merida, Seuor Perucho, the Secre- 
tary of the Governor of Yucatan, Seiior Rivos, an old 
and highly intelligent merchant of Merida, and others 
and the last official presentation and reception of Mr. 
Seward in Mexico took place. 

After an hours conversation on political subjects, the 
Secretary handed Mr. Seward a letter of which the fol- 
lowing is a translation : 

The Governor of the State of Yucatan, 

To the illustrious American^ William H, Bewa/rd. 

Mr. Seward : — I trust that you have been pleased with the 
reception you have received in every part of the Republic which 
you have visited. 

You remain but a short time on the shores of our State, which 
are distant from its capital, but I hasten in the name of its peo- 
ple to cordially welcome you, and to pray you to accept the 
assurance of that sympathj'^ which all lovers of liberty must feel 
for men of genius and of heart. 

You, Mr. Seward, are a man of eminent genius, for you have 
to conduct with glory and with skill, the public affairs of your 
country. You are a man of heart for you have liberated the 
slaves, uniting in that great work with your fellow countrpnan, 
Lincoln, whose martyr memory is blessed to-day by all mankind. 

Regretting that we shall not have the honor of a visit from 
you at this capital, I tender you my best wishes for a safe and 
pleasant voyage to your native land. 

M. CIREROL. 
Mekeda, Yucatan, January 13th., 1870. 

The party then took leave of Mr. Seward in the most 
affectionate manner, and his visit to Mexico was ended. 



OUE LAST VIEW OF MEXICO. 517 

That evening our steamer sailed away for Havana, 
and as tlie sun went down in tlie west I sat on tte 
deck smoking my last cigarrito, wrapped in smoke and 
tliougkt, and saw tlie palm-fringed skore of Mexico 
slowly sink down in tke korizon and fade away from 
sigkt. From sigkt, but not from memory ! Beautiful, 
unfortunate Mexico ; in all my after years, wkat visions 
of tkee and tkine will kaunt me day and nigkt ! 

Again skall I see tke gay flotilla moving up tke La- 
guna de Cayutlan, tke wooded kills and tropical valley 
of La Calera; Colima — tke beloved of tke sun — witk 
ker gardens, ruins, and palm groves,, and ker great smo- 
king volcano for a back ground, will be before me. 
Again skall I see tke gallant cavalcade and tke flasking 
arms of tke Guard of Jalisco, filing tkrougk tke great 
Barranca de Beltran, or moving by torckligkt over tke 
kills of San Marcos. I skall see tke full, round moon 
rise over beautiful Guadalajara, and kear tke soft love 
song and notes of tke ligkt guitar, or watck tke beau- 
ties of Mexico's cities floating tkrougk tke voluptuous 
mazes of tke danza. Again I skall see tke blaze, and 
listen to tke roar of tke fire-balls, as tkey come crask- 
ing down into tke dark deptks of tke eartk, in tke 
mines of Guanajuato. Again skall I tread your blood- 
stained battle fields, on wkick tke problem of free goVo 
ernment in America was decided ; again stand by tke" 
little mound of stones and tke tkree black crosses wkick 
mark an epock in tke world's kistory, amid tke waving 
corn-fields at tke foot of tke lone Cerro de Las Campa- 
nas. Again, and yet again, skall I tread tke deserted 
kails of Ckapultepec, and look down on tke fair valley 
and city of Mexico, and up to migkty Popocatapetl 
crowned witk eternal snow. Again skall I stand wkere 



518 MEXICO, ADIOS ! 

Cortez foiiglit and Giiatamozin lost and died. Still 
shall I see brown Dolores at the casement standing, and 
Juanita with the flashing eyes, ride past in her stately 
carriage on the paseo. I shall listen to the wild music 
of the trumpet and the kettle-drum in Colima, and the 
wilder notes of the Aztec band at the foot of the pyr- 
amid of Cholula, or stand in breathless silence absorbed 
in the fiery eloquence which pours like a flood from the 
lips of Ignacio Altamarino in the Palace of Mexico. 

Again shall I descend the defiles of the Cumbres and 
dash at full speed through the Pass of Chiquihuite, and 
walk through tlie damp and dismal dungeons of the 
Castle of San Juan de Ulloa. Your flower-embowered 
and blood-stained shores have faded from my sight, but 
all these things, and a thousand other memories — bright 
and beautiful in the main, though occasionally tinged 
with sorrow and with sadness — are mine, and only 
death can rob me of them. 

Land of history, romance, flowers, j^oetry, and song ; 
land of dark and fearful deeds, violence, wrong and a 
terrible past ; land with a present mixed and clouded, 
in which 

" Men must die, and women must weep," 

to atone for the sins of those "who came before them ; 
land with a bright and glorious future, in which all 
your people, — educated and disenthralled of prejudice 
and bigotry — shall in truth be " sovereign, free and in- 
dependent," and white-winged peace and prosperity 
shall ^v^alk hand in hand through all your borders, 
God bless thee ! Adios ! 



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COLUMBIAN BOOK COfVlPANY, 

Hartford, Conn., 

Or the other Publishers of this Book : see Title Page. 



CO]^TBEAEE AKD HOWSOI^'S 

LIFE AND EPISTLES 

OF 

Presenting a vivid picture of the Great Apostle and the cir- 
cumstances and influences by wliieli he was surrounded, from 
his Youth up ; with unfoldings of his inner Life, as exhibited 
in his Writings, and abounding in graphic and scholarly delin- 
eations of People, Countries, Cities, Natural Scenery, and 
Works of Art, as he beheld them. With references and notes 
in the English language, and the original Maps and Engravings. 

With an Introduction by 

Rev. JAMES McCOSH, D. D., L. L D., 

President of Princeton College, New Jersey. 

An Unabridged Eeprint of the English People's Edition. 
This celebrated and hitherto very expensive English work, 
is now presented to the American Public, at a price which 
brings it within the reach of nearly all, and its appearance will 
be welcomed by thousands. It has received the unqualified and 
warmest commendations of eminent clergymen and the press 
of all denominations, as a masterly and unrivalled work, — a fit- 
ting tribute to the greatness of the Great Apostle. 

fn mechanical taste and execution it is all that can be desired, 
and in this resjDCCt is superior to the English edition, having 
many additional engravings, and being printed in larger type, 
making a much larger volume. It is, in short, a book of pecu- 
liar interest and value, faultless in its character, free from all 
sectarianism, beautiful in its adornments, and commanding the 
admiration of all intelligent readers. 

This matchless Biography of the greatest of the Apostles, has already won 
praise from hundreds of thousands of admiring readers. It is one which ought 
to be in every family. The type of this edition is large and clear, thereby ren- 
dering it peculiarly acceptable to such people as complain of the smallness of 
the print in other editions. — The Churchman, Hartford, Conn. 

There are few works that I could so heartily and unqualifiedly commend, 
and for which I could so earnestly desire a place in every family. 
No purchaser will ever say he has " not received the worth of his money." — 
Rev. H. M. Grout, Pastor of Congregational Church, West Springfield, Mass. . 

This work was written by two of the most learned Clergymen which the 
Church of England has produced in our day. 

The Authors take up the one grand theme, and they gather matter to illus- 
trate it from every quarter. The whole history of the period and the state of 
the world at the time, have been made to throw light on the one grand figure 
which is made to pass before us. — From the Introduction, ly Dr. McCosh. 

Agents Wanted. Address 

COLUMBIAN BOOK CO., Hartford, Conn, 
W. E. BLISS, Toledo, Ohio. 



GREAT PICTORIAL WORK, 

ARCTIC EXPLOMTIOIS, 

CONTAINING GBAPHIC DELINEATIONS OF 

LIFE AMID THE lOE, 

THE WONDERS OF THE GREAT POLAR SEA, AND THE 
MARVELOUS ESCAPE OF THE EXPLORERS 

FROM THE 

RELENTLESS FROST-LAND, 

WHICH SO LONG HEU) THEM IN ITS GRASP. 

ILLUSTRATED WITH TWENTY-THREE ELEGANT FULL PAGE, AND NEARLY THREE HUNDRED 
OTHER ENGRAVINGS ON STEEL AND WOOD, PROM SKETCHES BY THE AUTHOR. 

WITH A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF DR. KANE, 

BY PEOF. CHAELES W. SHIELDS, D. D., OF PEINCETON COLLEGE, N. J. 

This celebrated work is published in One Elegant Octavo Volume of 768 
pages. It is sold by subscription, and furnished to subscribers at the follow- 
ing prices : 

In Fine Cloth, $4,50 

" " " Gilt Edge, 5,00 

" " Leather, Library stj-le, 5,00 

" " Half-Turkey, Gilt Edge, 7,50 

" " Puil " " " 10,00 

Copies will be sent by mail or express, prepaid, to persons residing in towns 
where there are no Agents for the work, on receipt of the retail price. 

This sublime and moving narrative will have a charm and a power among men as long 
as heroism continues to gain reverence. No library in the land will be tolerably com- 
plete without it. — Neio York Independent. 

It is a wonderful book, and will be for future ages one of the proudest monuments of 
our native land. — Protestant Churchman. 

A narrative of actual fact and experience, it yet possesses the fascination of the most 
intensely wrought fiction. — Church Advocate. 

Few novels were ever written that are so fascinating and so thrilling as this unstudied 
story of an endurance that was heroic, and a daring that was sublime. — Liberal Christian. 

We commend the work with emphasis and without qualification, as one which equally 
fascinates, instructs, and kindles the reader.. — Morning Star, Dover, N. H. 

We shall never forget the deep interest, almost reaching enthusiasm, with which the 
public first read the romantic and thriUing adventures of Dr. Kane in the Arctic regions, 
and a new edition of that valuable book will be warmly welcomed. It will never grew 
old; it is too great a contribution to science to be laid upon the shelf; it is too intrinsically 
interesting in its well-wi-ought narrative to become a thing of the past, and the later 
inurneys into the ice-regions by Hayes and others, only call renewed attention to the 
formerVork of Dr. Kane. The book "is beautifully illustrated with steel plates and new 
cuts and is to be recommended in all respects. — Watchman and Befiector, Boston. 

Agents Wanted. Addiess 

COLUMBIAN BOOK COMPANY,' Hartford, Conn., 

Or the other Publishers of this Book; see Title Page. 



Juio 



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TKB RIVKR OF THC WEST. 

Thirty Tears of Life and Adventure 

IN THE 

EOOKY MOUl^TAINS Al^D 0REG0:N. 

By Mrs. FRANCIS FULLER VICTOR. 



A History of the Nortli Western Slope, tcith grapJnc accounts of tho Indian 
Tnbes.the Far-traders, the Oregon Missionaries and their tragie fate, the 
Emigrants, and Early Times in Oregon. Wit7i events in the life-time of a Rocky 
Mountain hunter, and Oregon pioneer, and a full descnption of ths Country on 
the line of the 

NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD. 

All the varied information wliicli tliis book gives is grouped around the 
personal history of Joseph L. Meek, one of those remarkable men who be- 
came Mountaineers, Indian traders and Sentinels on the outposts of Civiliza- 
tion, in the heroic epoch when Oregon was redeemed from the wilds of na- 
ture, to be come the home of Civilized Man. 

The reader will be charmed by the descriptive portions of the book, fasci- 
nated by the narrative of thrilling personal adventures and experiences, and 
highly amused by the ludicrous and humorous scenes, incidents, and anec- 
dotes with which the work abounds, while the historical events recorded will 
be perused with intense interest and gratification by all. 

Finely Illustrated with JVumerous Engravings. 

" The River of the West" is the title of a stately volume from the pen of 
Mrs. Francis Fuller Victor, contributor to the Overland Monthly and other 
periodicals. She is well qualified for the task she has undertaken, possess- 
ing, in a rare degree, the investigating, analytical and judicial faculty. Much 
— indeed, we might say most of her information is derived from the lipe of 
those who were actors in the scenes she describes. Of these her special pet 
and hero is Joseph L. Meek, whose adventurous career is graphically sketch- 
ed. She presents him to our wondering gaze as the Bayard of the forest, a 
man without fear, if not without reproach As drawn by her partial pen he is 
the embodiment of all that is most heroic, the most excellent, the most dough- 
ty, the most dare-devil, the most seductive in the frontiersman. His career \s 
indeed a remarkable one.*^*That the book will prove popular there can be lit- 
tle doubt. It is attractive in style, attractive in method, attractive in its m-ke 
up, attractive in printing, binding and illustration. — Evening Bulletin, San 
Francisco, Cal. 

It is crammed with stirring adventure, and picturesque description, and in- 
deed has a very considerable historical value as enclosing and perpetuating so 
many remarkable illustrations of a kind of life which is rapidly fading oflF the 
face of our country The artist and engraver have been called into liberal 
requisition. — I^eic York Independent. 

Of the contents of the book we may say that, containing as it does, the life 
and adventures of the best living specimens of the mountain-man of a period 
when the great mountain and desert regions of the West were the scenes of 
the wildest romance and adventure, they could not fail to be most deeply in- 
teresting even if written by the clumsiest of pens ; but when told in the easy, 
graceful, narrative style which Mrs. Victor understands so well, the story is 
frequently thrilling, and always captivating. — "Orcgonian," Portland, Oregon. 

Agents Wanted. Address 

COLUMBIAN BOOK CO., Hartford, Conn. 
W. E. BLISS, Toledo, Ohio. 

UNION PUBLISHINa CO., Chicago, HI. 












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